My Heart Must Go On
by Darkness Oversoul
Summary: Finally forced to answer for the bad life choices Spyro made in his past, Cynder leaves him for good. As time goes on, the broken purple dragon finds himself caught up in a bigger series of events involving his own past and the decisions others had in his life. As he learns more , something just feels more and more out of place. Was it all really just a coincidence of fate?
1. A Stolen Life

**Chapter one: A Stolen Life**

_It is a beautiful day in a beautiful valley. Birds are singing, there is a pleasant breeze blowing, everything is absolutely perfect. This place is known as the valley of Avalar, on a planet simply called Earth. It is in this wonderous world that many many unique creatures exist. Orange, yellow, and blue spotted Cheetahs that stay together in tribes, and walk on two legs with their spears and hunting knives, going day by day gathering food, and helping one another. Dragonflies that have hands, and come in all different colors go about their daily business at the swamp. However, there is one species that possibly has the greatest spiritual connection to the land, and all of its bounty. These creatures are the dragons._

Spyro: My Heart Must Go On.

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><p>In the valley of Avalar, a black dragoness was turning her head around in several directions, scanning the area for what would surely be her demise if it found her first. It was dawn, and the sun hadn't risen yet, but there was still light. And it was the light of her life that was her demise, for as soon as she turned around, she was hit by a purple blur that barreled into her, and spun her around for a while before pinning her to the ground.<p>

"I win," said the purple dragon playfully. The black dragoness glared back up at him, but still had the hint of a smile on her face.

"That's impossible! I would have heard you coming," she replied. "Plus, I know who the real winner is here," she said. The purple dragon cocked an eyeridge.

"And who might that be?" he asked slightly confused, and ready for any tricks.

"Me, because I have you" she said lovingly. She then brought her cheek to his in a loving nuzzle. The purple dragon was surprised initially, but joined in the nuzzle, and let himself fall on top of her, as his eyes closed, and he escaped into the wonderful feeling of Cynder's company. They rolled around in an embrace for a while with eyes closed, and then the black dragoness opened her eyes.

"You're all I'll ever need," she said with a giggle. Spyro stared back at her, warmly.

"Nothing could ever replace you Cynder," he returned. The two leaned in for another nuzzle. After what felt to the loving drakes like hours, Cynder looked at him a little sideways.

"You know, there's just one thing about you that I think you should fix," she said.

"And what might that be?" asked Spyro questioningly.

"How incredibly easy you are to beat!" she taunted with a snicker as she leaped off of him, and flew into the sky. Spyro smirked up to her defiantly

"We'll see about that," he retorted.

"Try me," replied the black dragoness with a wink. The two played in the valley of Avalar for a little longer until the sun went down, and then retired to their little cave behind the waterfall. They lay down on their makeshift bed, and cuddled for a while, their motions hypnotizing each other into a dreamy state. Before they went to sleep, Cynder whispered something in Spyro's ear. "I'll never leave you Spyro, ever." She kissed him on his cheek.

"Goodnight my love."

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><p><em>Four years later…<em>

Cynder briskly ran down the streets of Warfang calling for someone very important who had disappeared ever since sunset. By now, the sun was starting to go down, and Cynder was getting worried.

"Spyro! Spyro! Where are you?" She then noticed a group of three dragons her own age walking down the street. She looked at them questioningly.

'Where are they going?' she thought to herself. Silently, she followed them

Spyro sat down on one of the many cushion chairs lined up in front of a main counter with a dragoness serving drinks on the other side. The purple dragon glanced around nervously.

"Umm Gaia? Are you here?" he called out. Just then, he saw the green dragoness that told him to meet him here turn around with two friends laughing.

"Oh! He's here everyone!" she said. The two dragons she was with turned around, and looked at him while greeting him. Spyro felt quite nervous, and blushed a little bit. He turned back to Gaia.

"Why is everyone here?" he asked. Gaia then turned her head to him.

"Oh, we're having a party here, and invited a few people. I was just thinking we could all have a little fun tonight, and wouldn't want you to miss out," she said.

Spyro smiled and nodded his head, but then felt the absence of someone important. "Wait, what about Cynder?" he asked nervously.

"Oh, some of the guests haven't arrived yet," replied Gaia kind of awkwardly. Spyro looked at her a little bit funny. Something just didn't seem right here, and the purple dragon felt very uncomfortable.

"Umm, I... I don't know," he said. Gaia looked over at him pleadingly.

"Don't worry. Cynder will be here soon. I invited her personally," replied the green dragoness.

That made Spyro a little bit more comfortable with the situation. "I guess, I mean, if she's coming here then I should wait for her, shouldn't I?" he said. Gaia smiled.

"That's the Spyro I know."

Just then, a little white dragoness with a golden underbelly walked in. Gaia immediately sent her a menacing glare, and the white dragoness grimaced with tears in her eyes, and then walked back out with her head down.

The purple dragon sat down, and a server brought them drinks. Gaia handed Spyro one, and Gaia's friend, a little fire dragon named Flame made conversation.

"So, how are you and Cynder?" he asked as he took a sip of his drink. Spyro, in custom, took a small sip of his, but was careful not to drink too much.

"Oh we're… fine I guess. Speaking of which, hey Gaia, when is Cynder supposed to get here anyway?" he asked. She just looked at him.

"Sometime soon, I know that. I told her what place," she said as she chugged a gulp of her drink. Spyro shifted a bit uncomfortably in his seat.

"Hey Spyro, can I ask you something in private?" asked Flame.

"Uh, sure Flame," replied the purple dragon, who was eager to get away from the situation, even momentarily. The red dragon walked out to the back of the building, and then started talking to Spyro.

"Sorry to take you out here, but I was just wondering. What does it… feel like… to be, you know, loved by someone?" he asked.

Spyro warmed up to him immediately. "It's the most wonderful experience you could ever feel," he said in response. "Why?" he added.

Flame looked around. "Can you keep a secret?" he asked. Spyro nodded his head. Flame turned to face him.

"Well, I… kind of have a crush on that pink dragoness on the other side of Gaia, but I'm too afraid to tell her," he said. Spyro nodded his head understandingly.

"It was the same way with me and Cynder. We went around in the dark about how we felt for each other and right when I pulled the world back together, just as we were supposed to die for the good of the earth, she told me, and here we are today," said Spyro, who smiled as he was taken aback by the recollection.

Flame nodded his head, slightly touched by Spyro's tale. The purple dragon put a wing on Flame's back.

"You'll know the right time. Trust me," he said.

"Thanks," replied the fire dragon. The two walked back inside, Cynder still nowhere to be found. Spyro sat down in his seat, and noticed that the pink dragoness wasn't there.

"Umm, hey Gaia, wasn't there someone with you?" he asked. Gaia looked at him.

"Oh, Ember. She just had to use the restroom. She'll be back soon," said Gaia as she sipped her beer. Spyro sipped his, and immediately started to feel a little bit buzzed. Ember came back, and took her seat. Just then Gaia spoke up.

"Hey I have an idea," she said. The other three gave her their attention. "Let's play last dragon standing," she suggested.

If Spyro was in a normal state of mind, he would have declined, but the alcohol dulled his judgment, and he agreed. Gaia led the count off.

"Three, two, one!"

On one, everybody took a drink. Spyro was starting to really feel the effects now. In the back of his mind, he was questioning himself.

"Why do I feel so slammed after just a few sips?" The game and the alcohol prevented him from figuring it out. Slowly but surely, the number of drinks started to add up...

By now, it was long past sunset, and Cynder was worn down, but she still was determined to find her purple dragon, even if it meant that she would get no sleep. Cynder walked through a back alley. Following that group had been pointless, and now she was pretty much lost.

Cynder heard a sound, then stopped and listened. It sounded in all of the world like… moaning? The black dragoness blushed a little bit at her thoughts of what it might be.

She carefully took a few steps, and peeked her head around the corner where the noise was coming from. What she saw there created such a dissemblance in fate, that Cynder actually felt woozy for a second, almost like she was somehow cut in half.

There was Spyro, that was unmistakable, but he was with a green dragoness. Cynder could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. There was her purple dragon cheating on her, plain as day, and things were heating up really fast. Cynder approached the couple. As she did, she heard Spyro speak.

"Oh Gaia," he whispered. "I, I love you, and only you. Nothing could ever be more important to me..."

Gaia gazed up at him from their embrace and giggled. "You're so poetic Spyro," she mused. "It's funny how you wasted your time with the black floozy for so many years."

Spyro laughed with her. "I guess it is. Funny how I thought I even knew love until I met you."

Cynder felt her heart cracking at the seams. All this time with Spyro, it had been a pure lie. Cynder couldn't contain herself. She began to sob uncontrollably.

The voice snapped Spyro out of his emotion altering trance. He immediately leapt out of Gaia's arms, and faced the source of the noise.

"Cynder!" he yelled, as he walked towards her. "It's not what it looks like, honest!" He was met by a razor sharp slap to the face.

"You horrible unfaithful, lying **cheater**!" she screamed at him, tears openly pouring down her face.

"Cynder, I-"

"Save your breath! We're through! I loved you Spyro. I gave you my heart, and everything in me for four fucking long years, and what do you do? You cheat on me with this, this bimbo!" Gaia took that to offense.

"Hey, now look who's talking? I, or just about any other female in this entire city deserve him much more than you do! You killed our families, destroyed our villages, and he even had to save the world from you! And all the while, you were just the dark master's whore all along," growled Gaia.

Cynder threw her head to the side. "Well you can have him for all I care, because I'm gone!" she yelled. Cynder started walking away, and Spyro followed.

"Cynder, please wait!" he called.

"Get away from me!" she yelled back at him as she quickened her pace.

"Cynder please, I can exp-"

"I said get away!" she yelled as she turned to face him, and blew a gust of wind. Spyro was blown back a little, but persisted. He couldn't lose her. Not like this. Not when everything was going so well.

"Cynder please, I-I still love you," he said. This time, she turned around to face him.

"No you don't. You stopped loving me as soon as you chose that hooker over me! Back off!" she yelled.

Spyro took a step forward. Cynder stared at him, her eyes glowing red in fury.

"**I said back off!**" she screamed, as she fired the strongest phantom fright she had ever produced at the very purple dragon she fell in love with.

Spyro didn't move, and just took the hit, knocking him unconscious. He had terrible dreams. Everything. All of his moments with Cynder were being played back in his head, but in reverse. All that time spent with her, gone in three seconds. When Spyro awoke, it was morning. He didn't even bother looking for Cynder. He knew it was all over, no purpose. That was the last time he would ever see his beloved for several years.

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><p><em>Four more years later…<em>

Spyro lifted his head off of his pillow. Ever since Cynder's disappearance, a multitude of events had happened.

First of all, Gaia was sent to prison; charged with possession of illegal emotion altering drugs, and spiking of an innocent citizen's drink with one, as well as attempted rape on Spyro's account of the events.

As for Cynder, search parties were sent out, but no one could find a trace of the black dragoness, and the search parties gradually were less frequently deployed, until finally, everyone seemingly forgot. Everyone that is, except Spyro.

The poor purple dragon was at a loss without Cynder. She was the only thing that he had left to live for, and with her gone he was a broken soul, wandering day after day with no real purpose. Oh the suitors came, but Spyro turned them all away. After the loss of the only dragoness that he could ever love, he had a hole in his heart, and nothing could replace it but Cynder. The only thing left of him was a trace of his personality, and that was thanks to Sparx.

With Cynder gone, the dragonfly had undergone an alarming change. His annoying comic relief attitude was entirely replaced with a supportive and caring one, and it was thanks to Sparx that Spyro didn't completely die.

The purple dragon climbed out of his bed, and headed for the door.

"Sparx, I'm going out," he called.

"Where?" asked the dragonfly from across the house.

"Oh, just going out for some air," said Spyro in his usual tired, somber tone.

"'Kay" replied Sparx.

Spyro walked outside, and it was then that he smelled it. There was something in the air, something different about today. Somehow, the atmosphere of Warfang had changed just now. In a fantasy of unrealistic hope, Spyro spread his wings, and flapped into the sky.

The cool morning air was rejuvenating, and the purple dragon felt his soul heal a little. He felt himself dreamily gaze towards the east side of town where the sun was beginning to rise. The purple dragon looked down at the lustrous city beneath him. He peered over to the land outside of the city walls, near the eastern gate.

It was then that he saw it. The purple dragon simply looked away. In his depression, he had actually started to age. His scales were starting to lose their purple color a little bit, and his tired eyes would often play cruel tricks on him. Still though each time, he had to satisfy himself.

'Here we go again,' he thought as he started his ritual.

He tucked in his wings, and started his nosedive towards the ground. Spyro felt the air whip around him as he picked up speed, and right before he hit the ground, he opened his wings, and zoomed east at sonic speeds. As he stared at the area, he actually made out the shape.

'At least it's a dragon this time,' he thought to himself. As he got closer, the black shape more clearly defined itself.

'Okay, shadow dragon,' he said to himself. He was now about sixty feet away, and could see that it was a female. These times were rare. Usually it would either be a male, or not even be a shadow dragon; it was very rare that it would be a female shadow dragon. Spyro had only encountered one of them one time before, and he knew that this might very well be the same one.

Still in vain, he flew forward, when he was about thirty feet away, his heartbeat sped up, and his mouth ran dry. Standing there in the clearing was Cynder, in her full twenty three year old young beauty.

Spyro was so shocked that he didn't have enough time to land, and Cynder saw him and stared wide-eyed before he collided with her, knocking her over and sending her rolling.

"Ow, hey! Watch where you're flying clums-" Cynder stopped speaking in her tracks when she realized who it was that ran into her. She gaped in shock at the dragon who had knocked her over.

"Oh, oh by the ancestors." she murmured, choking over her words as the reality of what she had done to her long-lost friend crashed over her. "Spyro, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The purple dragon immediately felt his heart melt. He got off of her, put his head down, and started crying.

"Oh, C-C-Cynder," he bawled. "...Y-you're back."

"You've changed," she remakred while eyeing him over.

"How?" he asked. She looked him over again.

"I don't know. You just look… older, tired, almost," she replied, her voice cracking a bit.

"I was depressed Cynder. Without you, I didn't have anything to live for. I've been living a stolen life," he said while drying his tears, and turning to face her.

By now, Cynder was starting to cry herself. "Oh Spyro... I'm s-so s-sorry. I-If I h-had only known back then. If I had only l-listened t-to you. We could be t-together now," she sobbed.

"But we can be together Cynder, you're back," said Spyro, who felt himself start to break down again. Cynder was pushed over the edge. She started utterly bawling.

"N-n-no Spyro. W-we c-can't," she replied.

Spyro just felt the tears start to stream down his face "Why?" he asked.

Cynder looked down, her sobs growing ever more frequent, and violent. After a few minutes, she finally responded.

"I'm gravid."

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><p><strong>When I wrote this, I was going through a very painful time in my life, and decided to kind of vent how I felt into a story to try to help myself feel a bit better. Poor Spyro :'(<strong>

**Please Review, and if you like it, fave it. :)**

**Oh by the way, I have decided to include a soundtrack for each chapter for this story. The song of chapter one is Wake Me Up When September Ends by green day. Look it up and listen to it please. Seek out the video, it will give you better insight.**


	2. Anger

Chapter two: Anger

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><p>Spyro stood in a state of shock and despair. The words echoed in his head. 'I'm gravid, I'm gravid, I'm gravid.' The purple dragon felt it; his entire possible life had been blown away by the touch of fate. He took a few steps back from Cynder. "I, I, <strong>I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE<strong>**!**" he screamed in a very shrill high pitched voice.

"Spyro, wait," called Cynder through her own tears. She now feared the absolute worst for Spyro, and felt an overwhelming sensation of guilt.

The purple dragon finally felt himself snap. "To hell with pleasing people! I'm sick of this! Life! Everything! Nothing's worth living for!" he yelled as he took a few more steps back. The black dragoness came a little bit closer.

"Spyro please, don't do this," she called.

Spyro felt all of his pent up anger crash out of him like a broken dam. "You had your chance Cynder!" he yelled, his scales taking on a darkened color. He immediately assumed an offensive position, and hissed at the black dragoness.

Cynder wouldn't give up. She came a little bit closer, only to earn an even louder hiss from the blackened purple dragon. "Spyro no! Please come back!" she pleaded.

The purple dragon then did something unexpected. He started laughing, laughing at everything. Himself, his predicament, the ridiculousness of fate, "Oho! Why does this situation feel familiar? Oh that's right, eight fucking years ago Cynder! I think in fact on this very day! The day you left me! Luckily for you, I've moved on. I don't need you anymore! So leave me now!" he yelled in rage.

The black dragoness felt the tears pouring down her face. Wordlessly, she took another step. Spyro backed up again.

"I'm warning you! Not another step!" he called at her.

"Spyro," she whispered as she went against his command.

In response, the purple dragon lunged at her, and knocked her away several feet. He growled at her menacingly, and started to approach her, when a male dragon melted into sight in front of her, causing Spyro to stop in his tracks.

"Don't you dare lay a claw on her, or I'll rip you apart," said the defending dragon. Spyro let out one more growl before his scales returned to their original color. Tears freely streaming down the purple dragon's face, he backed up, and then disappeared into the forest. Cynder cried out in vain from behind her mate, but all to no avail.

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><p>Spyro ran through the woods. Finally after four long years, the last thread of his heart had snapped. He truly had nothing to live for now, the last of his hope dashed. Eventually, the purple dragon approached the very cliff where he and Cynder would go to watch the sun set together, the very same cliff side where he would watch on the horizon for her return after she left him. The purple dragon sat down, and looked over the edge. Beneath him, the waves of the ocean hit the face of the cliff, creating a slight inlet with a rocky shore. Since it was early morning, this was the darkest part of the sky.<p>

Spyro looked up into the starry celestial heavens. On the other side of the sky, the sun was rising, yet on this side, the sky was as dark as night. Spyro closed his eyes, the metaphor of nature exactly fitting him. He knew it, his sun had set, and transitioned into a cool starry night, while Cynder's was rising. He closed his eyes. 'If only I had read the signs. If only I had known enough to get out of that bar while I still could. Then maybe, Cynder would be standing there with a different dragon,' he thought to himself. It was then that Spyro remembered words that he had been told a long time ago.

"Spyro, when a dragon dies, he does not truly leave this world. His spirit lives on, binding itself with nature, offering hope for the future."

The purple dragon opened his eyes, and said a silent prayer. 'Then may my spirit give Cynder everything she could ask for,' he thought to himself. A lone tear trickled down Spyro's face. He had made his decision. The purple dragon closed his eyes.

The world faded into black around him, and he couldn't feel the ground underneath his feet. In slow motion, Spyro floated out over the invisible abyss of his doom, several sparkling blue tears coming from his face. The purple dragon didn't feel himself falling, but rather rising higher and higher into the sky, despite reality. The ground came painlessly for the purple dragon. He felt several of his bones crack, creating satisfying pain for him, yet internally, he felt none. All he could feel was contentment.

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><p>Spyro felt a series of strange feelings, and couldn't quite discern what happened, and when. At certain times, he would feel like he was rocketing through a stratosphere of lights, and at others, he would get glimpses of places, a beach, a forest, a castle, and sometimes he was being poked and prodded at, making him feel discomfort and pain, and other times he would simply feel nothing. However, there was something definitely predominant in all situations, a white shape that Spyro couldn't quite make out. He recalled hearing several voices, but they only spoke in a language of random vocal noises that the purple dragon couldn't even understand.<p>

Spyro looked around him. He was standing in the middle of the street in down town Warfang. "Wait, what? How did I get here? I thought that I jumped off of…," the purple dragon said to himself as he looked around. "Was it just a?" suddenly, something caught his eye. He looked down. His right front joint had a small cast, preventing movement at a part of it. He looked himself over. There were several major bruises covering his body on the right side, and his back leg was also casted. Spyro also felt a slight pain in his mid section. It wasn't a dream after all. "Wait, that makes no sense. How did I end up here?" he asked himself again. Suddenly, the truth dawned on the purple dragon. "Someone must have saved me," he said to himself. "But who?" he asked. Just then, he saw a white she-dragon with a golden underbelly running down the street with two other she-dragons on her heels, screaming at her.

"Get back here!" shouted one. "You won't get away with this you brat!" shouted the other.

Spyro noticed that they were gaining on her, and decided to step in and help out a little bit. He used his earth powers to raise up a little piece of land a few feet in front of the white's pursuers. They both tripped, and landed in a heap, giving the white dragoness a chance to escape. Spyro was interested in knowing why she was running. He crept up to the white dragoness who had taken refuge behind a stall, and waited until her pursuers went elsewhere. After they did, Spyro talked to her. "Hey you," he said, making her jump.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I was just trying to, oh," said the dragoness as she recognized that she wasn't facing her pursuers.

Spyro turned his head a little at the startled dragoness. "What happened?" he asked.

"One of my pranks gone wrong," replied the white dragoness in a half-thought response. Her eyes then widened in recognition. "Oh! It's…you!" she exclaimed, blushing.

"Do I know you?" asked Spyro. She then looked at him funny.

"Yeah, remember? I found you beaten up on the shore, and then nursed you back to health, and then…" The white dragoness who seemed a bit lost in something.

Spyro looked at her with mixed feelings. On the first hand, he was mad at her for ruining his suicide, but yet, he was somehow glad for it. On another, he was kind of surprised that she would take something like nursing him back to health upon herself, but confused about the exact circumstances of his rescue, and especially surprised that someone her age would be pulling pranks. "Sorry, but I don't really remember anything since my little accident, and just now. Can you tell me what happened?" he asked. The white dragoness looked a bit saddened.

"You mean you don't remember your healing?" she asked a bit awkwardly.

Spyro shook his head. "Sorry, but no. I do remember bits and pieces of it though, and what I presumed to be you," replied the purple dragon.

"I see," replied the white dragoness blankly. "So, what's your name?" she asked in her previous happy tone.

"Spyro," replied Spyro.

"Selene," said the white dragoness in response.

Spyro only half heard her. He was too busy focusing on what he was supposed to do now. It was only in the extreme trauma of Cynder's return and announcement that he would attempt suicide, wait, Cynder! The purple dragon had completely forgotten. "Hey Selene, have you seen a black dragoness around here anywhere?" asked Spyro.

Selene was watching a butterfly when she turned back around to face Spyro. "Huh? Oh yeah, I did at one point I think. Now that I think about it, I most definitely did. She came to my castle asking if I had seen a purple dragon, but I told her that I had seen nothing of the sort, because I just felt like lying during that very second," said Selene in a dreamy voice.

Spyro turned his head sideways. There was definitely something weird going on with this dragoness. She was obviously hiding something, plus, Spyro wanted to know more about the exact details of his rescue. "Hey Selene, I think I kind of owe you after you saved me from my little… accident," said Spyro. The white dragoness leapt at him, and stood directly in front of his face with a massive hopeful look on her face.

"Oh, well in that case, would you like to have a play date with me?" she asked excitedly.

'What a weird question,' thought the purple dragon. The term "play date" was generally used among hatchlings, and this girl was at least twenty three. However, it was a more than good enough opportunity for Spyro to get the information he needed, so he agreed. "Okay, sure," he answered as if there was nothing odd at all with the question.

"Yipee!" yelled Selene as she jumped for joy. "Meet me here at three, and I'll escort you to my castle," she said. Spyro looked at her strangely again.

"Wait, you live in a castle?" he questioned. Selene nodded her head.

"Yeah actually, a really small one. It used to be just a regular house, but then I Oh look a butterfly!"

Spyro watched with amusement as the young adult chased after a butterfly down the street, and eventually turned the corner. Obviously, she was a quite hyperactive, and distractable, but frankly this made her appear adorable to onlookers. The purple dragon giggled to himself. 'This is going to be an interesting day,' he thought, but then he remembered something important. 'Cynder!' Not knowing where to start, Spyro flew up to get a sky view of the city. Unfortunately, this was pretty much in vain, as the city was crowded now, and finding Cynder would be like finding a needle in a wheat field. At least the purple dragon spotted the city temple, and considered that a good place to start. After all, Cynder had just returned after being missing for four years, and would probably be received by the guardians first. The purple dragon flew down for the temple. When he arrived at the entrance, he went in, and saw Terrador, who was surprised to see him, but also guessed as to why he had come.

"She's in the infirmary having a checkup. She has been worried to tears about you Spyro. We were about to send out a search party to look for you. Where have you been all this time?" asked the green dragon.

"Time? How long has it been?" asked Spyro.

"It's been a week since you disappeared," replied Terrador.

Spyro felt his anger flare up. "Disappeared you say?" he shouted. The purple dragon then calmed down again. He didn't want Terrador to find out about his attempted suicide.

Terrador was surprised by the purple dragon's sudden outburst, but misunderstood it. "Where were you, young dragon?" he asked a little bit sternly.

Spyro started thinking quickly. "I… needed time away… from reality, so I took a little vacation," he said.

Terrador looked at the purple dragon. His response definitely sounded strange, but the green dragon played along for now. "I understand," replied the Terrador.

Spyro quickly ran to the infirmary in anticipation, and in angst, for there was something gravely wrong with the purple dragon. His heart had shattered, and when one's heart shatters, they become someone dark, and uncaring. The opposite of what they once were. As Spyro neared the infirmary, he felt a rage build up inside of him that made him thrust open the curtain strongly. He was greeted with the sight of Cynder, who was being checked by an older dragoness with several strange devices. Her mate was close, and the sight of him put Spyro into an even greater rage, but he put on his best lying face that he had used for all the time that Cynder was gone. The black dragoness perked up as soon as she saw Spyro, and she leapt up off of the table that she was on, and ran over to him, sorrow mixed with joy on her face.

"Oh Spyro! I was so worried about you all week! Where were you?" she asked.

"Oh, I attempted suicide, and got saved by a random bitch, and now we're getting married," he replied sarcastically. Cynder looked hurt at his response, and tears freely streamed down her face at the horrifying sight of seeing Spyro act this way. She whispered so that only he could hear her speak.

"I'm so sorry," she consoled.

"Curse fate," replied Spyro quietly. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," said the purple dragon who felt tears well up in his eyes. "A whole life, blown away in an instant by the touch of bad luck," he added.

"I wish it all never happened," said Cynder. "But our hearts must go on," she added.

Hearing that he had to adapt, the purple dragon stormed out of the infirmary, and back onto the streets. When he arrived at his house, he ran to his bed, and screamed into the pillow.

Sparx heard a weird noise from his midday nap. "Spyro? Is that you buddy?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes Sparx," replied the purple dragon in anguish.

"Where were you man?" asked Sparx, who had zipped into the room. Spyro turned to face him, and sat down.

"Our little evil she-dragon has returned from her little 'vacation'," said Spyro, curling and uncurling his two front claws at the word "vacation."

Sparx looked at him hopefully. "Did she come back for you?" he asked.

Spyro slammed his fist down. "No Sparx, far from it. She came back completely moved on, and plus, she's fucking pregnant!" yelled the purple dragon as he threw his pillow against the wall, breathing heavily.

Sparx put his arm on his adoptive brother's back. "I'm really sorry bro," he said.

Spyro looked up to him, calmed down. "Thanks Sparx," he replied.

The dragonfly looked at him supportively. "Hey, no matter what happens, I'll always be here to catch you when you fall," he said.

"That means a lot to me," said Spyro in response.

The two sat for a minute, and then Sparx remembered something from a little earlier. "Oh, by the way, a weirdo came by here not too long ago. I think she was saying something about a play date, so I shooed her off," said the dragonfly.

Spyro's eyes widened in remembrance. "Oh right, her..." Right now, the purple dragon could really care less about what happened from now on, so he allowed himself to be drifted by fate. "I have to go," he said.

"Where?" asked the dragonfly.

"I need to speak with someone," replied the purple dragon. "Who?" asked Sparx with an upward arc vocal inflection of amusement.

"The princess of weirdness who says that she took care of me after my little accident," replied Spyro.

"What accident?" asked Sparx.

"I'll tell you about it later," said Spyro as he went out the door.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review of your thoughts, I really want to hear them!<strong>

**Song for this chapter is My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne**

**Cheers**

**~Darkness Oversoul**


	3. The Strangest Butterfly

Chapter 3: The Strangest Butterfly

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><p>'Okay, now what street was she on again?' Spyro asked himself as he closed his eyes to think. He thought back to when he just randomly came to in the middle of the street. "Okay, Selene ran down one street while being chased, and hid behind one of the…," The purple dragon's eyes opened in remembrance. "Stalls…" Spyro flew down to the market area where he had originally met Selene. It was then that the seed of an idea so far in his sub consciousness that under any other circumstances, it would have gone unnoticed, but he felt it come to him like a wave.<p>

'I've hit rock bottom. What can I lose?' he asked himself, secretly wishing that he had never thought of it. As soon as the purple dragon landed, he looked around, Selene nowhere in sight.

"Selene? Are you here?" he called out. Just then, he noticed something that startled him. A lone figure stood at the entrance to the market, completely dressed in black, with no visible features. All of the minglers simply payed the figure no heed, and just walked by, but Spyro was transfixed. It was definitely a dragon, as it was too long to be anything else. As the purple dragon stared at it, it turned a little, presumably to face him, beckoning him to come near.

Spyro approached the figure, but as he did, it walked further away. He followed it down an alley way, but then came to a corner. The figure stopped as Spyro came closer, and pointed to the left around the corner in its black cloak before disappearing around that corner. Spyro stopped a minute to take in the whole ordeal. It was so strange, a warning of some kind, an omen maybe, but even then, the purple dragon had nothing to live for anyway. As soon as Spyro turned the corner, he saw Selene waiting for him on the other side. She rushed over to greet him.

"Oh, you actually came!" she yelled gleefully, as she briefly nuzzled the purple dragon beneath the chin.

Spyro felt nothing from her more than just friendliness. She looked back at him.

"You're the first one to actually show up," she said. "All of the others either don't, or run away when they see me," she added.

At that comment, the purple dragon felt a little bit of pity for the white dragoness. "Well that's unfortunate," he said. He then remembered the grave black cloaked figure. "Ah, Selene; did you happen to see a figure cloaked completely in black just turn the corner?" asked Spyro. Selene nodded her head.

"Oh yeah, that was me. I have certain times when I want to be seen in public, and certain times that I don't," she said

Spyro was wondering why she had been so secretive about it if she just told him, but put the thought away. Instead, he took in the dragoness before her. She was definitely not 'curvy,' or 'sexy' in any way. She just seemed a bit small, and had four straight horns that aimed out from the back of her head, and a slightly more sharpened muzzle than his own, but it was very slight, and overall, they both looked pretty similar. She was pretty streamlined, and frankly, looked pretty physically weak. 'Perfect,' thought the purple dragon evilly.

"Follow me," said Selene, interrupting his thoughts. She took a running start, and then leapt into the sky, Spyro following. They flew a good distance above the buildings in the city, and eventually landed right outside its borders. "My castle is a bit on the outskirts, so I thought we could walk," she suggested.

"Sounds good to me," replied Spyro. The two walked into a slightly wooded area. After a brief trek, they came out in a clearing with a lake, and a big building that looked from every point of view like nothing more than a house.

"Well, here we are," said Selene in her usual cheery voice. Spyro said nothing as he studied the house, and the woods surrounding it. The white dragoness opened the door.

Spyro was in for a surprise. As soon as he stepped inside, he was met with the sight of what had to be at least fifty seven dolls that all sat around on surfaces in the house, all in the images of dragons. "What are these?" asked the purple dragon.

"Oh, just people that I've met," replied Selene. All of the dolls seemed to give the illusion of a full house, when in reality, Selene was the only one living here. Also, there was just something about them that Spyro couldn't place, something that made him uncomfortably "with company," something about their eyes.

"Tea?" asked the white dragoness.

"Sure," answered Spyro, who was still staring at the dolls. It was then that he spotted one in particular that changed his expression entirely. There sitting on a little shelf was a dragoness that closely resembled Cynder, down to the enlarged abdomen that signified pregnancy. As soon as Selene entered the kitchen area, Spyro ripped the doll off the shelf, and tore a large gash through the bump with his claw in a rage. Just then, Selene entered the room again, holding a tea pitcher in her mouth. As she set it on the table, Spyro quickly put the doll back on the shelf, turning it a little so that the gash couldn't be seen. Selene then used one claw to pour the tea into a cup, and then poured another one. She walked over with the tea cup in her mouth, and offered it to Spyro, who accepted. They both then sat down on their haunches on a pair of slightly raised cushions. Spyro sipped the tea. It was sweetened with sugar cane, and had a slightly exotic taste. Selene brought the cup to her mouth, and then Spyro initiated the conversation that he had been planning. "So, what was it like when you helped me?" he asked. Selene didn't face him, but just spoke.

"When I found you, you were in pretty bad shape. You had cuts and bruises everywhere, so I took you to a nearby cave where I applied some makeshift casts. I left you in the cave, and went out hunting. I caught a vixen, and brought it back. By that point, you had your head up, and were able to talk a little, but it was quite slurred. Anyways, at the end of the day, you were better at talking, but still through a significant slur, so I decided to spend the night in the cave with you," she said as she sipped her tea again.

Spyro noticed the slightest blush on her face, but it was for the most part blank.

"In the morning, I asked you if you could walk. You said yes, but stumbled around a lot, so I had to carry you to my house. Once we got here, I laid you down on the bed in that room," she said as she pointed to a room on the second story of the house.

Spyro took another sip, and Selene took one herself.

"Anyways, you healed here for about five more days. Over time, you regained your ability to walk, and the cast started coming off. I see now that it's completely gone," she said.

Spyro looked down to where his cast used to be. The white she-dragon was right.

"Earlier today, I went outside for the fresh morning air, and when I came back, you were gone. I figured that you had healed, and left me without need to be here anymore, so I went back to my primary forms of entertainment," she said as she finished her tea, and set the cup down.

"And what might that be?" asked Spyro as he finished his. Selene turned to look at him.

"Making dolls of people I've met, and pulling pranks," she said. Spyro then looked at her curiously. "Did you... by any chance...?"

"Of course I did!" interrupted the white dragoness.

"Can I see it?" asked Spyro.

"Sure," answered Selene. She got up off of the cushions, and walked up into the loft with Spyro following. All was going better than he'd hoped. Selene parted a curtain, and stepped inside a room. When Spyro entered, he was greeted by a sight that was quite difficult to describe. The room was filled with butterflies painted on the walls, and a veil surrounding a pink bed. Spyro took note that there were no dolls in the room that he could see, but then Selene walked over to the bed, and pulled a purple one off of it. Spyro recognized it immediately.

"So this is… me," he said, noticing that his doll was the only one in the room.

"Yeah," replied Selene, who handed it to him. "Do you like it?" she asked. Spyro looked over the doll. There was something about this one that seemed different than the others. It seemed to almost look like more time was put into it. All of the details were pretty much exact, down to the scale pattern.

"Wow, this is quite well made," said the purple dragon as he handed it back to her. "It almost seems like it could be sold for a lot of money," he said. Selene nodded her head.

"Oh, I do sometimes sell the dolls that I make, just never my best ones. I keep those ones to keep me company in my house," she remarked. Spyro nodded his head.

"Can I see your bed?" he asked.

"Certainly," replied the white she-dragon. She walked over, and parted the veil, revealing her bed. The next thing Selene knew, she found herself pinned to the cushions by Spyro, who was holding her down. The white dragoness looked both shocked, but delighted at the same time. "I've finally found you!" she yelled in excitement.

"Wait, what?" asked Spyro from on top of her, completely taken off guard.

"Someone else who has a love of close combat pillow fights!" she exclaimed enthusiastically as she used Spyro's temporary daze to grab a pillow, and slam it into his face.

The purple dragon was further dazed by the blow, and when he came to, he found himself pinned by Selene.

"I guess win this round," she said.

The purple dragon smirked up at the white dragoness. 'oh the naivety,' he thought to himself. The fact that Selene did about the furthest thing from what Spyro was expecting changed his mind. He dropped his initial idea of raping, and then murdering her, then killing himself afterwards, and instead felt almost renewed, recalled to life. Encouraged, he cocked an eyeridge challengingly. "Okay then, on with round two," he said.

"Bring it," challenged Selene. The two wrestled and fought with pillows for a while, until it was time to call it quits, and then they walked back into the main room.

"Well, what do you want to do now?" asked Spyro, who was eager to hear what other crazy, but fun activities this admittedly entertaining weirdo had in store for him. Selene smiled.

"The puppet act," she said. The white dragoness hit a crystal embedded in the wall, and a curtain parted from beneath the loft, revealing a stage with several strings hanging down. "Walk into those strings," said Selene as she ran up to the top of the loft. Spyro did as he was told, and was instantly bound magically.

"Ahh! Selene!" he yelled. He heard laughter from upstairs.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt," said Selene, who was standing above, and laid down on her belly while holding two puppet crosses in her hand. Spyro braced himself. He didn't exactly know Selene very well, and was quite scared. He felt himself be lifted up into the air by the strings, and then hung, suspended for a second, and then, Selene started to sing a strange, but lively tune, and Spyro felt himself being moved in a way that made him look like he was dancing. At first, the purple dragon found the situation embarrassing, but eventually started to get used to it but the song was just weird. They were about a strange boy who danced when night came, and slept during the day. After she was done, Selene lowered the ropes, and went to the bottom of the loft. She stared at Spyro.

"You didn't like it did you?" she asked. Spyro shook his head a little.

"Sorry, but no."

The white dragoness's face lit up. "Perfect," she said. Just then, she grabbed him, and leapt into the stage, which had obtained a clear blue transparency.

Immediately upon entering the zone, Spyro felt quite strange, like he had power over this area that he didn't have elsewhere. He then looked up at Selene… who was hanging upside down suspended in mid-air. The purple dragon gawked at her strange position. "How are you doing that?" he asked.

"Psychic matter," she said as she did a flip, and landed gracefully a few feet above him, standing on nothing. "It does exactly what you want it to. Gives you control over your personal gravity, and can solidify to images in your mind," she said as she floated to his other side. "But here's the catch. It can never leave this space," she added.

Spyro, excited with his newfound abilities decided to experiment. He took one step up as if he was climbing stairs, and he was standing on the floor, even though it was air. Encouraged, the purple dragon ran up the invisible stairs that he created with his mind, and just stood looking down. He was truly walking on air, not flying, but walking. "Selene, this is incredible! How did you make this?" he asked. She floated gracefully over to him.

"I have a bit of experience with psychic technology, and was able to create a device that projects matter which can amplify the desires of those surrounded by it," she said.

"What if two desires collide?" asked Spyro.

"Then the effect cancels out," replied Selene, as she soared over to the right, except it now looked like she was getting smaller.

"Selene!" called Spyro. He mentally propelled himself in the white dragoness's direction, but as he neared her, she came back into proportion with him. "Wait, how did you?" he asked. She smiled.

"I simply expanded the space we were in, creating an optical illusion. Sort of like that door in the front, she said. Spyro looked at the door as Selene floated next to it on the stage. "The door is twice my size, yet I look bigger," she said as she floated back to him. "That's how it works." Spyro was anticipating all of the things he could possibly do in here, while Selene was excited with the fact that she finally had someone to play with. Together, the two played in the mind zone, and enjoyed themselves so much that they didn't notice the hours… tick… away…

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><p><strong>Review andor fav**

**Alright, the song for this chapter is ****Walking On Air**** by Kerli. It really sums up well who Selene is.**

**Best wishes to you especially!**

**~Darkness Oversoul :)**


	4. Revenge

Chapter 4: Revenge

**Fair warning: This chapter is graphic.**

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><p>Spyro heard a ringing noise that made him and Selene stop dead in their tracks. The purple dragon knew what the ringing meant. "Eleven Thirty already?" he asked.<p>

Selene looked a bit saddened. "Well, I guess you should probably go home now. I had a lot of fun playing with you Spyro. Maybe some time in the near future you could visit again," said the white dragoness with a yawn.

"Count on it," replied Spyro as he floated out of the strange blue space. The purple dragon felt pretty awkward walking back into a place where things were out of his control again, and was a little bit wobbly. "Good night," he called to Selene.

"You too," replied the white dragoness as she made her way for her room.

Spyro exited through the door, and walked out into the dark night. It was a new moon, and the purple dragon was a bit shaken by the eerie darkness. He quickly flew straight up into the air, not wanting to have to go through the forest which could conceal danger. He eventually spotted the city on his ascent, and flew in its direction. The lights of the late night people were slightly comforting to the purple dragon, making him feel a little bit less alone in the world. He neared the familiar building that was his home, and when he entered, he was greeted by Sparx.

"Hey man, what gives? You were gone for so long, I started to get worried that she might have turned you into a frog or something," said the dragonfly. Spyro rolled his eyes. His brother was the one that he could still enjoy talking to at this point.

"No Sparx, she was actually pretty interesting. We flew around in a strange psychic space that she invented where reality was at your command," reassured the purple dragon.

The dragonfly put a hand on his brother's back. "Just be careful out there bro. You never know what kind of people you're dealing with," he said.

"I will Sparx," replied Spyro. The two brothers then headed for their own respective rooms.

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><p><em>Over the course of four weeks, Spyro would visit Selenefour more times, and each time, she would have some new wild activity for them to do. Eventually, the purple dragon grew to trust her, and considered her as a friend. Meanwhile, Cynder went further and further through her gravid state, her mate carefully watching, and caring for her, until…<em>

Spyro watched through a cracked door at the scene that was playing out inside the room.

"Alright Cynder, you have to push," said an older dragoness who was serving as a midwife.

The black dragoness lay on the bed, her eyes squeezed shut, in agony, but not as great as it had before. While she was in labor, the pain was unimaginable, greater than any other she had experienced before in her life. It kind of shot down her back, and bled into her legs as well. Silent tears ran down her cheeks, some in pain, however, some in lament. Lament that the egg she was about to lay couldn't be Spyro's. She had a different life now, and had to live it. Fueled by the wish to be rid of her pain, she pushed, and felt like something was moving across her lower area. The black dragoness was still in unimaginable agony, and continued to try to push. The second time she felt the moving sensation, she saw stars, and then… the pain vanished.

"You did great honey," came a voice from above.

'Spare me your shit!' screamed Spyro in his head as he ran out of the building with tears streaming down his face, unable to lay eyes on Cynder, or her two eggs. The purple dragon stormed down the street, unsure of where exactly to go. When he got to his house, he just silently laid down on his bed, and closed his eyes.

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><p><em>The purple dragon looked around. He was back in the bar. The place where all of his problems began. He felt himself walk in. All of the talking was a blur. Spyro desperately tried to escape the situation, but still found that he couldn't. At one point, he noticed a white dragoness walk into the bar. He recognized her as Selene, just four years younger, but she then frowned and ran out of the bar. From then came an amalgamation of the events leading up to Cynder's leaving him completely out of order. The worst part was that he now saw visions of the time he was drugged by Gaia, without any impairment. The purple dragon was disgusted by his own actions, but there was something that disgusted him more. It was Gaia's actions. She had obviously wanted him from the time he returned as a hero, but it was all in lust. The purple dragon again tried to stop his actions, but found himself unable to, and eventually saw Cynder. Spyro tried to close his eyes tightly. He knew what was happening, and didn't want to relive it, but as soon as he closed his eyes, all he could see was the face of the one who had destroyed his life.<em>

Spyro woke up with a start and a furious expression on his face. He clenched a claw in frustration. 'All of those long times away from Cynder, all of those three a.m. returns to the house, and most of all, my perfect golden life, all stolen by… her,' the dragon thought darkly. Spyro felt his dark side coming onto him, but suppressed it. 'I don't need your help. I've already made up my mind,' he thought to himself. By now, it was six in the evening, and Spyro knew that he would need the cover of night to do what he was planning. Instead, he found a piece of paper, and tore it in half. There were only two people who could know where he was going. Spyro quickly grabbed his ink bowl from the other side of the room, and began to write. He didn't plan on attaching any emotion in his words.

_Dear Sparx,_

_By the time you find this letter, I will be long gone. I have decided to start life anew in a faraway place. I don't know where I'm going or where I'll end up, but I do know one thing. I plan to leave behind my past, and I'll travel until I reach a place where I am not known. Until then, I want you to lead the life that you've been desiring Sparx. Don't try to hide it, you know that I hold you back, and I know that you have wanted to actually live, whether you accept it or not. You must not tell anyone of this letter Sparx. If I ever see you again, I will be a changed dragon. Goodbye_

_~Your brother, Spyro_

He addressed the other sheet to Selene.

_Dear Selene,_

_As hard as it may be for you to accept, after today, I won't be around anymore. The dragon you knew as Spyro is going to disappear. I consider you a true friend, and thank you for lifting my spirits, and helping me come to this decision. I have decided to travel in search of a place where I am not known, and begin life anew. Selene, be strong. I know that you will be able to manage yourself, and I hope that one day, you will maybe meet someone who adores you for who you are, and provides as more than just a friend. Please don't tell anyone about this letter. I have to do this. I hope that one day, we could meet again, and I could see your hatchlings._

_~Your friend, Spyro_

As soon as the purple dragon finished writing both letters, he entered Sparx's room, and placed his letter on the dragonfly's small bed, and then rushed out the front door, with Sparx conveniently already somewhere in town getting food. The purple dragon had a specific location in mind, and laid low so that he wouldn't be seen. Eventually, Spyro approached the female's prison just as it was getting dark out. The place was guarded by moles and dragons alike, and from what it looked like, the place was pretty secure. It was then that Spyro thought up an idea, but would need a better view to see if it would work. He walked inside of the building, and the dragon working at the desk greeted him.

"Ah Spyro, what brings you here?" he asked warmly.

"I need to see someone," replied the purple dragon.

"Alright, who is it?" asked the desk worker.

"Gaia O'Danek," replied the purple dragon.

"I'll get her right away," said the receptionist. He walked away, and after a few moments, he returned. "Alright, she will be waiting for you down that hall." The receptionist pointed to a door.

"Alright, thanks." The purple dragon headed down the hall, and thankfully didn't have to walk in front of the cells. At the end was a transparent wall, where sound, but not matter was allowed to transmit. Spyro saw a green dragoness appear on the other side. He felt his rage rise, but held his straight face. Gaia on the other hand obtained a hideously overjoyed smile.

"I knew you'd come back for me sweet horns," she said in a voice that was thick with seduction and lust.

Even though it made him slightly sick, the purple dragon twisted his face into his best impression of a loving smile. He felt disgusted with himself. "I wouldn't miss another day," he said. The words curdled in his mouth. He then got low, and close to the wall. "Listen, I can get you out of here," he whispered. The green dragoness's face lit up.

"I always knew you saw something in me that you don't see in the other girls." She then looked at him seductively. "Maybe I can give you a little 'reward' later if you know what I mean," she added.

'Oh, I'll be taking my reward alright,' the purple dragon thought to himself.

"Okay, go along with me here," he whispered. Gaia nodded her head. The purple dragon then produced a little gem that Selene had given him. It could project a small field of psychic matter that could be used for minor practices such as perceptual motion. He aimed the gem at the green dragoness behind the force field, and pressed the top of it. Instantly, a little blue light about the size of a teenage dragon was projected from the crystal. Spyro moved back while staring through the light at Gaia, until she was visually no larger than his hand, and then aimed the crystal at her. Looking through the transparency, the purple dragon picked up the tiny green dragoness, and moved back a little more, then set her down.

Gaia felt Spyro's claw, which had somehow grown gigantic lift her into the air, and push her through the wall, then set her down again. Thrilled at freedom, the green dragoness walked up to Spyro in anticipation. "Okay, how are you going to smuggle me out of here?" she asked, noticing that she was still wearing her tracing collar. Spyro projected the blue light at her once again. "Okay, fly away from me as far as you can," said Spyro. Gaia did, and found that she wasn't physically moving in space, but the room seemed to keep getting larger at different rates, depending on their closeness to Spyro. Only her location seemed unaffected. Just then, Spyro, who had grown again, reached a massive claw over, and grabbed her. The green dragoness found the situation a little bit frightening, but went with it. He then set her in a little pouch with the crystal still activated inside. The purple dragon closed the pouch, and walked back to the entrance.

"Alright, I've sent my final regrets… thank you for your time," said Spyro to the receptionist in a slightly mournful tone.

"Any time," replied the older dragon understandingly. Spyro then willed the crystal to delay the signal from Gaia's collar to the main transition, rendering it slightly off time temporally, but still technically activated so the alarm wouldn't sound. As soon as he stepped outside, he leaped into the sky, and pulled the green dragoness surrounded in blue light out of the bag. "Okay, I'm going to destroy your collar," he said. Gaia nodded, and Spyro took the collar in his claw, then with one swift motion, slashed it apart. 'It will take at least three hours for them to realize that she's gone,' thought the purple dragon to himself. Just then, the crystal ran out of power, and Gaia immediately appeared about thirty feet behind the purple dragon appearing as she did in her tiny size. She flew back up to him. "Follow me," said the purple dragon. He dove straight down for a forest clearing, and Gaia followed him. When she landed, the purple dragon was nowhere to be seen.

"Spyro? Spyro? Where are you?" she called.

"Over here," came a voice from behind a bush. The green dragoness walked over to where she heard Spyro's voice emanating, and was instantly pinned by the purple dragon. "Spyro?" she asked questioningly as several earth ridges rose, covering her limbs, and preventing her escape. Spyro leapt off of her, and glared daggers down at her.

"You drove away my one and only, you ruined my life, and almost succeeded in making me kill myself. I would be dead right now if it wasn't for a certain white dragoness who saved me," said Spyro menacingly. He turned his head, and looked down at her. "I'm sure you know her. She was the one who you drove away that night. It's thanks to her that I'm here with you right now," said the purple dragon to Gaia, who was beginning to fear for her life.

"Wh-wh-what are you going to do to me Spyro?" she asked weakly, expecting a certain answer. The purple dragon just laughed.

"Well, I'm definitely not going to rape you; that would give you what you've always wanted wouldn't it? You filthy little whore. You deserve a far more realistic punishment," he said, as he raised his claw high into the air. Gaia closed her eyes, expecting pain… but what she would feel in the next five minutes would surpass anything conceivable by the inexperienced mind

Spyro smirked a little as he raised an earth dome around himself and Gaia

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><p><strong>W<strong>**arning: This part is gruesome. Don't read it if you don't like torture scenes. To put it into friendlier terms: Spyro murders Gaia**

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><p>Gaia expected to feel a ripping pain, but it never came. She opened her eyes and looked up at Spyro in confusion and very real fear when she noticed the dome of earth. The purple dragon smirked down at her.<p>

"Well, it looks like your eyes are asking for it first. Spyro unsheathed his claw again. Gaia, realizing what was about to happen, started to break down into tears.

"Please, no-o-o! Don't do this to me! You can't!" She wailed in the agony and terror of what was about to come as she fought her bindings.

"Quit your blubbering," muttered Spyro as he gripped her by her snout, effectively clamping her mouth shut. Gaia screamed and struggled against Spyro as he slowly brought his claw towards her left eye. In a last ditch attempt to spare herself the agony, Gaia shut her eyes. Spyro noticed this gesture of defiance.

"Resist me will you? Fine, we'll just have to do this the hard way," he said, as he drove his razor sharp claw through Gaia's left eyelid. The pain the dragoness felt sent a jolt of shock through her entire body. She opened her eyes to try to prevent Spyro from ripping her eyelid off.

"Nope, sorry, you insisted that we do things this way," said the purple dragon menacingly. He used his other front paw to grab Gaia's eyelid, and then pierced it again with his claw. He then slowly started dragging his claw across the eyelid until it was cut cleanly off. Gaia's screamed in agony as blood and pain poured from her now forced open eye in quantities which she didn't believe were possible. She began to fight the earth bindings even more powerfully, but she was completely out matched by the strength of a male, nevermind a purple dragon.

"That takes care of the first one," said Spyro as he lifted his claw again. "Now onto the next one!"

Again, the purple dragon slowly brought his claw towards Gaia's face, her panic and fear multiplying with every inch, but then he unexpectedly thrusted his claw cleanly through her right eye. Gaia screamed very shrilly in terrible pain that came from the surprise element of Spyro's attack.

The earth dragoness saw a blue shock in her right eye, and then, blackness in it. Spyro quickly repeated the maneuver for her left eye as well, and then began absolutely tearing at the dragoness's torso.

In all of her most imaginative moments, the earth dragoness could have never truly conceived the mind piercing pain she was going through. It just didn't seem like this was reality anymore. It is said that when faced with suffering beyond what is considered useful, the mind releases endorphins to all nerve cells in the body, which completely numbs it in preparation for imminent death. Gaia felt as Spyro tore her body to pieces, and she grew weaker and weaker that the pain simply didn't exist anymore. All she could think of now was that Spyro was touching her body all over, and in the end, she relished that fact lustfully as her final revenge. She felt herself leaving her body with the ecstasy of the last laugh.

Spyro slap-slashed the clearly already lifeless remains of what was Gaia. "That was for taking my love away from me." He slashed her again. "That was for all those times you made her worried by keeping me gone for way to long, and making me return too many times."The purple dragon then brought his muzzle down to hers, and connected maws. "And that was a kiss goodbye," he said triumphantly The purple dragon lay on top of her with his claw still lodged deep within her gut.

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><p><strong>It's over. You can continue reading.<strong>

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><p>He suddenly came to with a start. The dome surrounding Spyro and Gaia came crumbling down. The purple dragon pulled his claw out of Gaia's body fell over on top of himself crying his eyes out in realization of the situation. "Oh ancestors! What have I done?" he called upwards. Spyro then looked at the corpse. The first draconic life he ever took. Just then, as if on cue, it started to rain, a light drizzle with no thunder. The purple dragon just sat, heaving, and crying. "I'm no better than Malefor," he said through heaves. "Oh why couldn't things have gone any other way?" he asked in anguish. "Why?" he whispered. The purple dragon then threw back his head in sheer agony of his own actions. "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?" he screamed upwards to the weeping sky. The purple dragon then looked at the piece of paper in the satchel under his wing. "I can never go back," he heaved out loud with no breath. "But I have to tell her." With what little dignity he could muster, the purple dragon got up, and made way for the house in the clearing. When he got there, he stood under the portico, and pulled out the slip of paper. He slid it under the door, and then started his journey west to his unknown destination.<p>

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><p><strong>Review and fave if you want to<strong>

**The song for this chapter is Heal by Kerli. It pretty accurately describes the anguish Spyro is in, with actual screaming in tears as part of the lyrics, and overall sad mood. **

**I did not enjoy writing this chapter to be honest. It was a bit too much, and I had to stop at several points.**


	5. The Journey Of Atonement

_Oh the rain came down, and over the days, the rain became snow, but no matter what the weather, Spyro kept walking. It had been about five weeks since he left Warfang to embark on his journey to another life, and quite a few things happened. About two hours after Spyro left the female prison, Gaia O'Danek failed to show up at roll call, and so a search was set out to bring the fugitive to justice. In three days, she was found, but not in the state one would think. Gaia was dead with multiple scratches and scars all over her body, with one death blow on her neck, and optical mutilation. The crime was listed as "physical assault. Death caused by clean cut to neck." Immediately, detectives set out on a case as to find who must have done it. Collar traces show that Gaia was pulled through the wall of psychic energy, which lead detectives to the home of the only person in town who has ample knowledge of the topic… but she wasn't there. Immediately, a bounty was put on her head, and a reward was offered to anyone who could find traces of the crazy butterfly named Selene, whose mind seemed unstable and unknown enough to commit the crime. However, they found nothing. There was only one person in all of Warfang who knew who the real culprit was: the ex terror of the skies. Cynder looked out her window into the night time sky through all of the snow. "Oh Spyro, what's become of you?" she quietly asked the night as she stroked her two eggs._

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><p>Spyro emerged from the snowy woods onto a cold whitened beach. The dragon shivered. Being a purple dragon, he did possess internal homeostasis that allowed him to withstand the extreme temperatures, but tonight, the air had reached subzero temperatures, and the environment was becoming dangerously cold. The dragon gathered what little lumber he could, and had gathered as many red and green gems as he could find in his bag for emergencies, and this technically qualified as an emergency. The dragon walked onto the snowy sand of the beach, a safe distance away from the waves, and set down the snow covered lumber he found. Using his earth power, he created a little cave out of the inlet of a cliff by raising two little walls around the lumber. He then breathed a small flame, which he kindled with grass to strengthen, then went for more lumber. By the time he was done, he had a pleasant fire going, and brought out the venison he was keeping to cook, then eat. After he was done cooking it, he started to take a bite, but then saw something that made his blood run cold.<p>

A lone figure in a black cloak was laying in the snow obviously unconscious. The purple dragon ran over to the figure, and hastily picked it up, for he knew that those who fall asleep in the snow never wake up.

As he brought the figure closer to his fire, he noticed something definitely familiar. It was a dragon in a black cloak with no distinguishing features. With slight annoyance, he flipped the hood off, and was met with the hypothermic face of Selene.

'Stubborn bitch, I told you not to follow me,' he thought to himself. But there were lives at stake, and Spyro decided that he needed to act now, and ask later.

He set her down on a dry raised earth ridge near the fire, and took off her cloak. He then went outside, and breathed very hot air that wasn't technically fire to dry it off, and warm it. After drying the cloak, he went back inside, and put it on Selene. Spyro then realized the truth about the situation. Selene was obviously unconscious and rapidly losing body heat. Even in a room with a fire, the cloak wouldn't hold the warmth for more than an hour. Realizing the embarrassing truth, the purple dragon did what he needed to. He lay down next to Selene to share body heat. Eventually, the purple dragon drifted to sleep.

_Spyro looked around at the scene before him. Everything in the dream was really only a suggestion of what it might be. He could tell that he was with someone, but couldn't sense who. They were playing and laughing together, but in addition, they seemed to be touching muzzles often, and nuzzling repeatedly._

Spyro opened his eyes. It was morning now, and the snow stopped falling, but the sky was still grey, and the beach was covered in a layer of snow. He pondered back to the dream. The purple dragon dearly wished that he could return to it, return to a time where he actually loved someone, and was dearly loved in return. It was then that he felt something stir to his side. Remembering Selene, Spyro quickly but delicately got up from his bed, and sat on the other side of the little cave.

Selene lifted her head, and brought her knuckles to her eyes. It was only after she opened them, and saw the scene before her that her eyes went wide.

Spyro was glaring over at her in annoyance. "I told you not to follow me," he growled.

Selene just stared at him, and then sat up. "It's… you," she said breathfully.

Spyro rolled his eyes. "yes, it's me," he responded.

Selene suddenly jumped back. "Wait, they didn't send you to come get me did they?" she asked in a panic.

Spyro's expression changed from one of annoyance, to one of curiosity. "What?" he asked.

Selene just sat back down, and stared at the floor. "I'm a fugitive now," she said. "I saw them coming for my house in the distance, so as fast as I could, I grabbed my cloak, a psychic gem, and a little bit of herbs and food, and headed down to the escape tunnel hidden beneath my house. I've finally that I'm too different than the people of Warfang, so I've decided to go on a journey into the unknown realms, hoping that one day I may come across a place that accepts me. Three months later, here I am, psychic gem run out, and completely unable to survive out here," she said hopelessly.

Spyro looked her on with sympathy. He was in a very similar predicament, but still needed to know one last thing. "Did you get my letter?" he asked.

Selene looked at him questioningly. "You sent me a letter?" she asked him. That sealed it.

"Selene, I need you to know something. I've done something really, really terrible that I don't want to speak about," he said as he moved a little closer to her. "Survival is especially hard in the winter... and two hunters can survive much more easily than one...," he added.

The white dragoness looked at him hopefully.

"Would you like to travel with me?" he asked.

Selene didn't even hesitate. "Oh thank you so much Spyro," she said joyfully. "Of course I'll travel with you!'

Spyro smiled a bit. "Thanks," he replied. Finally after so long, he had someone he could talk to. Together, the two dragons caught a deer, and after a brief breakfast, they went on their way.

Spyro and Selene walked down the snowy beach in the opposite direction of the place where the sun rose, careful not to get too close to the freezing water. Eventually, the beach became a forest, and Selene stopped Spyro.

"What?" asked the purple dragon.

"I was thinking that we should maybe catch something to eat before we go on," she suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea," replied Spyro. He then breathed a ring of fire, and raised an earth platform above the trees. "We'll split up. Once you catch something, come back here," he said.

"Wait, how can you breathe more than one element?" asked Selene curiously.

Spyro sighed. "Alright, do you want the long story or the short story?" he asked.

"Long one," replied Selene.

"Okay then," said Spyro as he cleared his throat "I am, or at least was the purple dragon. A long time ago, Cynder and I were sworn enemies, and she kidnapped the guardians who I saved one by one, learning new elements along the way. Eventually, Cynder and I confronted each other and we had a big battle. Afterwards, I returned her to her original form, and then we trained with the guardians for a few weeks. However, she ran away trying to find a place where she belongs," said Spyro.

"Kind of like us," remarked Selene.

The purple dragon laughed a little at his predicament. He and Cynder had practically switched roles in the last few years. "Anyways, I went after her, and ended up getting kidnapped by pirates that forced me to fight in their arena, but Cynder was there too, and she got kidnapped by Gaul, the ape king's forces. I went to the white isle to find a way to save her, but learned that I was only going there to take shelter for when Malefor rises, so I went to save her, and got stuck underground there, so I used a time fury to seal us in a crystal for three years. When we were broken out by Hunter, we started our journey to Warfang, back when it was a military city of course, and fought a golem along with several hundred grublins."

"Wow, that must have been grueling," said Selene as she looked at Spyro admiringly.

"It was, but throughout the fights and hardships, I had one thing that kept me fighting, and prevented me from giving in, even when all seemed lost," added Spyro.

"What was that?" asked Selene curiously.

"Cynder...," said the purple dragon looking saddened and taken aback. "Anyways, once we got to Warfang, the dark armies were already attacking the city, but we were able to hold them off… that's when the golem came back. All four guardians pitched in and helped us bring down the thing, but after we did, the destroyer rose out of the mountain of Malefor, and started its ring of annihilation around the world. We spent a night in Warfang, where we made our plans to intercept the destroyer before it was too late, but there was something else on me and Cynder's minds." "What was that?" asked Selene. "The moment we were reunited with the guardians was when we realized that we were starting to fall in love. Anyways, the morning afterwards, we set out through the catacombs of Warfang, and came out near a dam where we trapped the destroyer, and destroyed its dark crystals, but then Malefor intercepted, and with his dark powers, he controlled the destroyer remotely, allowing it to continue its path of destruction, so Ignitus, the former fire guardian, sacrificed himself to allow Cynder and I safe passage through the belt of fire. I was vulnerable to grief back then, and I completely broke down, and phased into my dark form, but then Cynder pulled me back to reality, and we continued on. After several really tough monsters, we arrived at Malefor's chamber, where he convinced Cynder that she was still on his side for long enough to re-initiate his control over her, but I didn't fight back. I couldn't fight the one I loved, and with Ignitus gone, she was the only thing I had to fight for. I found my courage, and told her this, which brought her back to me, and together we took down Malefor in the core of the Earth. Afterwards, I offered myself in sacrifice to bring the world back together, and while I did… Cynder said she loved me. After we escaped that place, we had all we could ever want… until that fateful night where everything went wrong. I already had Cynder on edge thanks to all of those times that I was gone for extensive periods of time, and all of those three a.m. check-ins. I think you were there, but Gaia sent you running, and then she drugged me, and made out with me behind the bar. Well, Cynder found out, and then left Warfang for four years, leaving me broken, but I still had one thing to live for, and that was hope. Hope that she might return and forgive me, but on the day she did, I lost even that. Everything, all I ever had in life was taken. On the day you found me, I had attempted suicide," said the purple dragon painfully.

Selene brought her claw to her mouth. "Oh my. Spyro, I'm so sorry. If I had known-"

"shh, I'm not done," said Spyro to shush her. "After you saved me, I found myself in down town Warfang. I was considering going back to do it again, but then I met you. The fact that you used the word "playdate" and seemed like a child in an adult's body made me curious about you, giving me reason to live, and for that, I thank you," said Spyro finishing.

The white dragoness smiled warmly at him. "I'll always be there when you need me," she said. "And, I'll follow you until we find our destinations," she added.

Spyro looked back at her with a smile himself. "Thanks Selene." For once, the purple dragon actually felt something in Selene's words. Something beyond just basic acquaintanceship. For once the purple dragon considered her a true friend. He got up. "Alright, let's go find something to eat," he said. Selene stood up as well.

"Let's."

_And so, for three more months, Spyro traveled with Selene in the direction of the sunset. The white dragoness was quite entertaining with her stories and her quirks, making Spyro glad that he decided to let her tag along. Eventually, the snow stopped falling, and melted, the trees gained their buds, and the scent of Spring was on the air. However, the dragons are still on their journey, and nothing has changed about that. Meanwhile in Warfang, Spyro, the savior of the world had disappeared, along with the strange dragoness who lived in a lone house in the woods. Cynder's eggs continued to develop, and eventually gained elemental hues. The black dragoness was increasingly troubled at Spyro's disappearance, but she knew in her heart that he was alive and well somewhere out there. _

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><p><strong>I hope you liked the chapter.<strong>

**Please review if you want, and maybe favorite if you want to as well.**

**The song for this chapter is ****I Follow Rivers**** by Lykke Li.**


	6. Cynder's Redemption

Chapter 6. Cynder's Redemption

**Oh by the way guys, there's a reason that I don't give any details about Cynder's mate. I have him as a symbolic figure, one whose features shouldn't be described. There are more of these throughout the story.**

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><p>"What's bothering you my dear?" asked a familiar voice.<p>

Cynder turned around from the window she was gazing out of, and faced her mate looking a bit troubled. "Oh, it's nothing. Just problems from the past, that's all," she said.

The dragon with Cynder put his arm on her back, but misunderstood her. "I understand how you feel. Your past was far more painful than anyone should ever have to bear, but times have changed," he said while stroking her back. "You've left that behind, and now you have us," he said comfortingly.

Cynder leaned up and gave him a little peck on the cheek, but then went back to the window, the slightest bit annoyed at how her mate had misunderstood her, but still thankful for his comforting company. "I just can't believe that he's gone to the ancestors know where," she said with a sigh. The black dragoness then looked down. "I guess now I know what he felt like when I left him that day," she said somberly.

Her mate drew her in close. "I will never leave you. No matter what happens," he said warmly. This time however, Cynder just stared out the window at the full moon.

'Oh Spyro? Where could you be?' she thought to herself. That night, Cynder had vivid dreams.

_She dreamt that she flew all the way to the moon, but when she got there, it was tiny, and Spyro was sitting on it. He didn't speak, but rather looked at her sadly, and seemed to be talking through his gaze. 'Why Cynder? Why did you leave me that day? Why didn't you give me a chance to speak?' The black dragoness covered her head with her claws. _

"_You'll never know how sorry I am Spyro. I would do anything to just to have a second chance at that day," she said in response. _

'_Nothing can change the past,' said Spyro's voice in her head. She looked back at the purple dragon on the moon._

"_Can you at least tell me where I can find you so that I can finally be at peace with myself?" she asked. _

_Spyro just looked down sadly, but this time, he spoke. "I've been traveling for several months Cynder, but if you feel you need to, you can find me by following the setting sun," he said. After he spoke, the purple dragon stood up, and leapt off the moon back to the earth. _

_Cynder called back to him. "Spyro wait. Please, wait!" she called. Cynder opened her eyes. _

"Wait!" she yelled as she sat up from her bed. The black dragoness looked around her room. Just then, a head popped in from the door.

"Cynder?" called her mate. He walked into the room when he saw her. "Are you alright?" he asked in a concerned voice.

The black dragoness got out of her bead to stand on the floor. "It's nothing. It was just a dream," she said reassuringly. Her mate's concern faded.

"Okay then. If you ever need me, call me, and I'll come running," he said.

"Thanks," replied Cynder, who nuzzled with him for a moment. "I have to speak with someone today," she said after they parted.

"Who?" asked the dragon in front of her.

"A pink dragoness that I met a while ago," she replied. Her mate just dismissed it as girl talk.

"Okay. Meet me back here for dinner. While you're out, I'll be at my stall," he said.

"Okay," replied Cynder as she headed out the door.

"Love you," called her mate.

"Love you too," she answered in return. The moment she stepped out the door, Cynder pondered her feelings, but the result made her feel sick. It was true that she truly did love her mate, and ever since disappearing, and even after returning to Warfang, she didn't love Spyro as anything past an acquaintance from long ago. The black dragoness sighed. Everything felt wrong, out of place, but worst of all, unchangeable. Even worse than that, doubting her love of her mate made her feel even lower, to the level of just a whore addicted to males. Cynder squeezed her eyes shut, but then curled her tail. 'I'm no whore!' she screamed in her mind. Not wishing to go any further on the topic, the black dragoness shifted her attention to where Ember would be. 'It's seven now, so she should probably either be at her job, or in the process of getting there,' she thought to herself. The black dragoness spread her wings, and flew in the direction of the pre-school. Upon arriving, she landed, and knocked on the door.

A green dragoness answered. "Hello."

"Hi, I'm here to see Ember," said Cynder.

"Okay. She's right now in the kitchen, preparing the food for the children," replied the green dragoness as she opened the door wider so that Cynder could come in.

The black dragoness entered, and made way for the kitchen. When she got in, she spotted Ember preparing small plates with several different foods.

"Oh, hi Cynder," said the pink dragoness when she spotted Cynder approaching her.

"Hey Ember," said Cynder as she nuzzled her friend warmly. Afterwards, she stared Ember right in the eyes. "I know that it's an unsettling subject, but there's something that I want to know," she said.

Ember had an idea of where this was going.

"I know that you were with Gaia on that night… and I just need to know for sure. What happened?" she asked.

Ember winced a little with a look of guilt on her face. "I guess you deserve to know. You lost a lot back then. I knew that something was fishy when… she… kept saying that you would be arriving soon, but I thought that it could be likely, since she came to me personally as well. Anyways, there was a point where a white dragoness with a golden underbelly ran in, but 'she' gave the white dragoness a mean look, and she ran away. Afterwards, Flame took Spyro outside, and I went to the restroom. I think that was the time that she put lobiscon loxi in Spyro's drink."

"What's that?" asked Cynder.

"It's a very powerful hypnotic, but it also has another property. It will cause the victim to have immensely strong affectionate and sexual feelings towards whoever has a piece of themselves in the drink. I believe that she may have put in a piece of a scale, or maybe just her natural body oils. Either way, it is still an illegal drug to own, and a felony to use. Whatever the case, After I got back, she made us play a drinking game, and I was pretty slammed after that. I don't remember much, but I heard yelling outside the bar, and then I heard something like a demonic shriek," the pink dragoness conveyed shamefully and quietly so that the children wouldn't hear.

Cynder thought for a second. "That must have been me," she said solemnly. 'Oh how could I have been such a fool?' she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut in pain. The black she-drake then thought back a little bit. All of those long periods of time where Spyro was gone, all of those three a.m. check ins. Cynder obtained a hunch. "Hey Ember. Did… she happen be in close contact with Spyro beforehand?" she asked.

Ember nodded her head. "Yes, quite excessively. I remember all of those times where she would hold him for as long as she could. Parties, projects, even wild goose chases. I'm certain she was trying to separate him from you so that she could steal him away."

Cynder clenched her fist into a ball. Suddenly, Gaia's death seemed like a minor setback at most. It was then that the sheer sadness hit Cynder like a wave. She felt her eyes water with tears. "If only I had known…" Ember brought a comforting wing to her back.

"I know that there's nothing I can say to help you, but I would like for you to feel better," said the pink dragoness.

Cynder felt something growing inside her, some kind of feeling that she had never experienced before. She didn't really know what it was, and couldn't quite place it, but she didn't like it at all. It was a mix of uncertainty blended with despair, determination, contempt, guilt and regret. The black dragoness sat down, torn over her feelings, and reality. The truth was, she did still love Spyro, and at the same time loved her mate, but she could only have one mate, and the bond had already been sealed. There was no hope unless… 'No!' screamed Cynder in her mind. She outright refused to kill her mate. She could never live with that guilt, and plus, she loved him, but Spyro upset her long ago. They did save the world together, and he was the first one that she had fallen in love with. "Augh! I don't know what to do anymore!" she screamed out loud as she stood up, shocking Ember. Tears openly streaming down her face, Cynder rushed out of the building.

The black dragoness kept walking. She didn't know where she was going, but she didn't really care. Eventually, she came to the gate of the city, and exited. She then saw a path leading into a little area with blooming apple trees. The sweet scent was pleasant, but irrelevant. However, it had enough of an effect to draw the dragoness in that direction. Cynder ran through the woods, following the path until she came to a clearing. In front of her was a large mansion with a single sign in front of it. The black dragoness knew the sign. It was the mark of a crime scene. Almost mindlessly, she entered the building.

Inside, she was greeted by the sight of an almost butterfly-goth themed main room, complete with a loft, and everything. However, there was one thing in addition that was kind of unsettling, and yet quite appealing to the dragoness. Dolls, dolls everywhere. Cynder found it strange that a crime scene would be left so intact even after being searched, but her attention was still on the dolls. They seemed to make her forget all of her troubles, and angst, capturing her attention and imagination from her inner child that had long ago been quashed to make room for the adult. A strange feeling came over the dragoness. Immediately, she began the childlike action of looking at each of the dolls, and possibly even observing them in her claws. She found many, and even recognized a few to be of people that she met in the town.

Eventually, the black dragoness climbed the loft, and entered the bedroom at the top. Inside was a pink bed surrounded by a veil. The black dragoness ran over to the bed, and pulled back the veil, but screamed in shock at what she saw.

There on the bed was a little black and red doll sitting in a half laying position, marble eyes wide, and staring directly at her, but this wasn't what disturbed the dragoness so much. The doll had in its arms, a purple dragon doll who was lying with it in an intimate position. Cynder stared at the disturbing couple. 'That black one honestly looks a lot like… me, and that purple one…' she thought to herself.

Cynder parted the curtain completely, and climbed up onto the bed. She slowly approached the black doll to observe it better. She lifted it in her claw. 'Yeah, it's almost a perfect match,' she thought. The black dragoness then noticed that the belly was rounded a little bit more than it should have under normal circumstances. She smiled to herself remembering that joyous time, the amazing feeling of knowing that you will soon bear children. 'This must have been made back when I was still gravid.' She then noticed something else. There were several scrapes where the rounded area was. 'That's odd. It almost looks like someone…'

The black dragoness realized with a start. This was more than a coincidence. The couple, the claw marks. It had to be a message of some kind that someone must have left behind. Someone who must have anticipated that she would eventually come here. Someone like.

"Spyro," said a voice out loud.

The dragoness gasped, and opened her eyes. She immediately looked around, but no one was in sight. The black dragoness immediately felt great fear. "W-who's there?" she asked in a soft voice. There was no answer. She immediately took an offensive position. "If you're here, then you better come out right now, this isn't funny!" she growled. Still, no answer. The dragoness waited for a while, and then exhaled. 'Was I just imagining it?' she thought to herself.

Cynder slowly walked out of the room, quite unnerved. She failed to notice the little black and red dragoness doll sitting on the night stand by the bed, watching her every move. As Cynder exited the mansion, a small glimmer of yellow light reflected off of the little marble eyes. "Spyro… Spyro…"

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><p>Cynder ran for the woods, wanting to get as far away from that place as possible. As soon as she did though, she began to ponder her thoughts. She was just on the verge of coming to a conclusion before that voice rang out. 'What was that' she asked herself. The black dragoness thought back to when she heard the voice. It definitely had the sound of a female, and was a bit dark, but motherly. It almost sounded exactly like… 'me,' thought Cynder. She then thought back to the image that the couple portrayed. 'It just doesn't seem like something he would do. He's not over me, but he's been acting quite hostile around me.' Suddenly, the image gained a whole new meaning. 'What if…' Cynder closed her eyes, not in pain, but rather in thought. 'If it's not something that he would do, then maybe…' The dragoness made up her mind, but she would need someone.<p>

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><p>The dragon working at the jewelry stall watched the crowd, scanning it for possible customers. Suddenly, he saw a black and red dragoness heading for him. "Cynder? What are you doing here?" he asked.<p>

"Sorry for the short notice, but we're going on an unexpected vacation," she said. The dragon just stared at her.

"Wait, what about the eggs?" he asked. In response, Cynder produced two round objects from her belly pouch. The dragon nodded his head.

"I'm guessing that it's something pretty important and urgent, so I'll let you explain on the way," he said. Cynder went behind the stall, and nuzzled her mate.

"Thank you for understanding me," she said affectionately.

Cynder's mate started putting away his supplies into a ba. "I'm going to drop these off at the house. Afterwards, we depart."

'Finally, I'll be able to put everyone at peace,' Cynder silently thought to herself.

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><p><strong>Please review if you can, I'd love to hear your thoughts!<strong>

**This is actually one of my more favorite chapters of this story. A lot of important things happen.**

**Okay, the song for this chapter is Wolf and I by Oh Land. Everyone can like that song, and I'm sure you will too. :)**


	7. The Light

**Okay everyone, just to clarify, Cynder does have her eggs. When I said "Drop these off at the house" that was Cynder's mate. Sorry about that. She keeps the eggs in her pouch. (remember Dragon Tales? :D) Anyways, if you don't know what "pouch" means, then I'll explain. A dragon's pouch is essentially a little pocket in the underbelly. I thought that they could use it like pockets. Both male and females have them, but females' pouches are larger, because the evolutionary use is to carry eggs when the mother needs to move like Cynder is doing.**

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><p>Out in a forest on a cool Spring night, some bushes rustled, but not in the breeze. Suddenly, a white head popped out of them, and looked around. "Hey Spyro, I found a clearing. We can set up camp here," she said. "Good work Selene," replied a voice from far away. The head retracted back into the bushes, and moments later, two dragons walked out from them, one purple, one white. The white one created a small fire pit while the purple one raised earth platforms, and fashioned them into a makeshift shelter. In a few minutes, they had a comfortable fire, and makeshift beds. After they ate, they retired to their beds.<p>

"Goodnight Spyro," said Selene. "Goodnight Selene," replied Spyro.

_The purple dragon opened his eyes, but found that nothing was really visible, but things were definitely suggested. 'Oh one of these dreams again, how nice,' he thought. The dragon felt himself on auto pilot in the dream. He was playing, laughing, cuddling with, and nuzzling with the suggestion of a lover. Spyro always enjoyed these dreams, and longed for them to come back when he woke up, and this one was no different._

The purple dragon opened his eyes. It was very early in the morning, and he still had a few hours to sleep. By now, the fire had died down a little, and was just a few flames here and there, but still provided ample warmth.

"Spyrohh...," whispered Selene from her bed as she rolled over. The purple dragon was taken off guard by this, and turned to face the white dragoness, who had rolled to face the opposite direction.

'Is she dreaming about me' he thought. The purple dragon blushed a little bit, and found himself slipping into the fantastical state of a freshly woken mind with input, but soon stopped himself. 'Probably just dreaming about the day,' he thought. The dragon sniffed the air. There was an abnormal smell on the wind, almost akin to salt, but he was honestly too tired to care. It wasn't long before he fell back asleep. This time however, his dreams weren't nearly as pleasant.

_The purple dragon was vividly standing in the middle of a burning city that resembled Warfang, and people were running all around in panic either trying to save a loved one from the wreckage, or weeping over their deceased. Suddenly there was an explosion and some screams coming from behind, and Spyro turned around. He saw a building literally blast apart, but there, floating in its wake was… a doll? 'What the?' thought the purple dragon. Suddenly, the doll turned around to face him, and that's when Spyro truly started to feel fear. He saw flames in its little marble eyes, and swore that he saw its mouth seam curl into a hideous smile. It floated over to him on a spectral power. The dragon just stood in shock, terrified, and then noticed something far more foul about the entity. It was the Cynder doll back at Selene's mansion. The doll floated in front of him, the place where he scratched it shining outward as if there was an otherworldly light inside of the doll. It then slowly opened its little mouth, ripping strings inside its head, but leaving a few in its front that resembled teeth that were connected to the top and the bottom of its mouth. It spoke to him. _

_"Boaxal jet, zo ridd wirr plovoir." The voice was quite unpleasant. It sounded like one person that the purple dragon had met, but he couldn't discern who. The demon stared at him for a minute, and when it didn't get a response, the sky turned red as blood, then to pure black, and fire surrounded everywhere but where Spyro and the doll were together in a circle. It started to charge up a purple attack in its little maw that had become the size of a teenage dragon, and then fired the ball at Spyro. The ball exploded into a brilliant light that engulfed the purple dragon, completely disintegrating him, and leaving nothing in its wake._

Spyro sat bolt upright. It was morning now, and even with the heat from the fire, the purple dragon could not stop shivering. The dream seemed so real, so vivid. Just then, the white dragoness next to him started stirring.

"Mmm uhh ah, ah! Spyro!" she yelped as she turned to face him. Spyro stared at her a little funny. She had turned away from him, but as she did, he noticed a little shade of pink on her face. Spyro gained a curious expression on his face.

"Um Selene? Are you okay?" he asked over to her. "Um yes, everything's p-perfectly fine," she said, shifting to avoid his gaze. He decided to get an answer.

"Why do you keep turning away from me?" he asked as he tried to look her in the face, only to have her turn away again.

"I'll be right back," she said hurriedly as she very quickly and rapidly stood up, and hobbled, three legs on the ground, one over her mouth into the bushes.

Spyro just sat, partially amused at her predicament. He then heard the beating of wings, and looked up. Selene had flown into the sky, and was moving in odd jerky patterns. Spyro opened his eyes wide. 'Oh ancestors! She's having a seizure!' he thought. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do about it. If he went into the sky, he risked injuring her, but if he did nothing, then she would be even more severely injured, so he just watched in horror. Selene eventually went into a nosedive. Spyro got under her, put out his arms, and braced himself for the impact. The white dragoness managed to land right on target, and thankfully, without being scratched. Spyro just stared at her wide eyed. Selene just laid in his arms for a while with her eyes closed, and then looked up back at him sheepishly.

"Sorry you had to see that," she said.

The purple dragon stared at her, still in shock. "Are you alright?" he asked after a great deal of thought on what to say.

Selene sighed. "I guess since we're companions you should know. I have seizures sometimes right after waking up," she said shamefully. "Usually I can feel them coming on."

Spyro then looked even more shocked. "How have you been living alone for all these years then?" he asked.

She smiled a bit up to him. "My dolls keep me company. They protect me when I have these seizures. The seizures are really quite rare now though. That was actually an unusual experience," she said.

"Umm, Selene?" Spyro asked, noticing that she was clinging to him.

She looked up back at him, and after a few seconds, she acknowledged her position. Selene quickly leapt off of Spyro, a little embarrassed. "So, any interesting dreams?" she asked, quickly wanting to change the subject.

Spyro took a breath in remembrance. "Quite the eventful one," he said. "You have any?" he asked.

Selene turned pink in the face. "Yeah…," she said while looking up to the sky. "It looks like… it's going… to rain," she said after a few seconds.

"you're right," replied Spyro.

"We need to get going or else we'll be caught in a downpour," answered Selene as she turned to face him, and then started walking west again. Spyro came into step next to her, and they briskly made their way towards their unknown destination.

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><p>Spyro and Selene had been walking for most of the day, stopping to catch something to eat, and then continuing for a few more miles before the downpour started, but eventually the rain came down, and the two dragons needed shelter. They found it in a high rock cleft on a foothill that overlooked the forest, and had a view for miles. Selene and Spyro rested in the cave, and when the rain stopped, a brilliant and inspiring sunset took its place.<p>

Selene lifted her head from where she was stifling her boredom by arranging stones in the cave in specific patterns when she noticed Spyro sitting at the mouth of the cave staring into the misty sunset. Quietly, the white dragoness got up, and walked over to sit next to him and gaze out at the fantastic view. Selene wondered what Spyro was seeing out there; whether it was something that she would be able to see too after a period of time. They sat for a while, and then it dawned on her what Spyro must have been thinking about. She turned to face him. "You miss her, don't you?" she asked quietly.

Spyro turned to face her. "Yeah...," he said in a voice taken aback. Both dragons then turned back to the sunset. After a few seconds, Spyro spoke. "I can't remember how many times it was like this. At the end of the day, Cynder and I would watch the sunset together," he then lowered his head a little. "Right as it disappeared, we would share a kiss, and a nuzzle, then head off to our sleeping quarters," he said.

Selene stared at him with a look of sympathy, but unbeknownst to the purple dragon, flurries of thoughts were swimming around in her head. 'Come on! This is the perfect opportunity! Wait, what if he doesn't feel the same way? This isn't about that though. It's about comforting a friend in a time of need. Do I look hot? Oh come Selene, you aren't even worth looking at. Oh If only. I'd give anything just to… Stay on topic! But, but, but…' The white dragoness then decided to do what she does best under extreme pressure. Selene fainted.

Spyro looked over at the unconscious dragoness on the floor and just stared in awe, but admittedly somewhat in amusement, at his traveling companion. She had gone from a sympathetic look to one of ponderance, started blushing, and then fainted.

'I wonder what caused that to happen,' Spyro thought to himself. "Ah well, better get her to a bed." Carefully, he picked her up, and with three legs, hobbled over to section of a cave that served as a bed where he placed her down. 'She's quite warm,' he thought to himself. Spyro remembered that in some creatures, being warm meant that you were ill, but dragons had evolved a highly efficient immune system over the years, and rarely ever fell ill. Still though, she was warmer than most would be right now, and Spyro couldn't imagine why. A few seconds later, Selene opened her eyes.

"D-did I faint again?" she asked timidly.

Spyro slowly nodded his head.

"Damn," whispered Selene almost playfully.

"Why did you faint?" he asked, trying to hide his amusement. She lowered her head a little.

"I don't… know," she said, as if considering her next word.

Spyro stared at her sideways. Obviously, Selene had many quirks, but in a way, they all added to her charm. "Oh right! There's something I wanted to ask you," said Spyro, remembering his question.

"What is it?" asked Selene in a soft voice.

Spyro slowly approached her. "Well, we've been traveling together a long time, and we're good friends, so I just want to know something."

"What might that be?" asked Selene, who felt her heartbeat speed up a little bit.

"I want to know your story," he said. "Where do you come from? What's your past?" questioned Spyro. Selene sat up, a bit disappointed, but at the same time relieved. "I really don't remember much. The most my memory dates back to is the mansion. I don't recall having parents, and the farthest back I can remember, I was twelve years old. Back then, I found that I wasn't able to even leave the mansion," she said.

Spyro was intrigued now, and sat down to hear her story.

"Whenever I would walk through the front door, I found myself walking right back inside. This continued for about three years, when one day, I opened the door, and saw outside for the first time. Immediately when I smelled the air for the first time, I felt a weird feeling down below."

She pointed to her abdomen.

"I couldn't tell what was wrong with me. I started fantasizing about sensations in my mouth that I had never experienced before. I really didn't know what to do. Nothing inside the house could cure me, and I was feeling sicker by the minute. I eventually decided to leave the house and see if anything outside could cure me. I wandered through the woods for a while, not thinking to touch the plants that grew there, when I spotted a large wall. I walked around it for a while, and eventually came to a gate with a strange creature that I later learned was called a mole halted me. He asked me who I was, and what my business was. I said that I had some kind of weird problem where I felt a feeling similar to suction in my abdomen, and I felt a large production of liquid in my mouth. He asked me if I was "expecting," said Selene, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't even know what that meant at the time, but anyway, I told him that, and he asked me where I was from. I said that I've just lived in a mansion not far from the area for my whole life, and had never seen the town. He then asked me if I had eaten anything in the past few hours. I asked what 'eat' meant, and that did it. He told me to come with him, and then led me to a market place, where he bought me something weird. It was reddish and kind of stringy, but when I saw it, some instinct took over, and I grabbed it, and then shoveled it into my mouth. I had never felt as amazing as I did when I put that object into my mouth. It caused an explosion of a new sense that I had never felt before, and I finished the whole thing in less than ten seconds. I enjoyed it so much that I begged the mole for more, and he sighed, and then bought me a second piece. This time however, I felt satisfied, and thanked the mole, but he didn't let me go. He asked if I had a job in town, and then explained the system of trade and commerce to me, as well as the importance of food. I said that I didn't have a job, but needed food, so the mole brought me to a place that I'll never forget, the daycare," said Selene, who looked taken aback.

Spyro braced himself for a happy and possibly funny tale.

"As soon as I set foot in that place, I simply fell in love with it. The other girls who worked there were very nice, but the best part was the children. Oh, those hatchlings were the most adorable things I ever saw," she said while squeezing her paws near her face with her eyes shut.

"Anyway, the mole had a word with the main owner of the daycare, and I was given a test day to work there. If they thought I was good with children, then I would have the job. Well, I went through the test day working the best I could. The kids all loved me, and called me 'mama Selene.' I thought it was cute, and that's really how I got my name. I was hired, and for three years, I worked there. Life was fun, I was well paid, and I loved my job, but alas, all good things must eventually come to an end, and the daycare was closed due to lack of funds. I was devastated."

"Yes I was now jobless, but also, I wouldn't be able to see all of the children anymore. I returned to my mansion, and decided that I had to find a new job, but never wanted to forget the children, so I started making dolls out of a special fabric called korin that feels like scales in the image of each of the children."

"That explains how your doll making hobby came to be," said Spyro. Selene nodded her head.

"Anyways, I wanted to keep track of significant people that I'd met, so I made dolls of the other employees of the daycare. Well, guess who showed up at my door the next morning?"

"Who?" asked Spyro.

"Cirrus, one of my co-workers from the daycare. She told me to come quick, and I followed her into the city where a small crowd had gathered. A little one, previously from the daycare, had managed to get herself stuck in a tree, and was too scared to get down. If one of us went up for her, she risked falling because the tree had a barrier of leaves, so no one could fly up to save her. I just stood there, watching, when she shifted position, and the branch she was on snapped. It was as if the world all around me had slowed down. I felt the strangest feeling come over me, and then, on instinct, I channeled a strange energy from within me that I didn't know I had, and a beam of blue light came from me, engulfing the little one as she fell, and she stopped her free-fall in midair. I then brought her down gently in the blue light. Afterwards, everyone just stared at me. The color of my scales had always been an anomaly to everyone else, but now there were even more mysteries surrounding me, and a big green elder dragon stepped out of the group."

"Terrador," said Spyro in realization. Selene nodded her head.

"Yup. Anyways, he asked me if he could speak with me in private. I was terrified that I had committed some kind of crime that I didn't understand, but instead we had a pretty interesting chat. He asked me what my element was because he had never seen anything like it."

Spyro found this odd. Terrador himself knew the true extent of Malefor's power, and if he could master any element, why hadn't he used this one? Spyro's thoughts were interrupted by Selene.

"He asked me to demonstrate my element to him, and I guessed that he meant for me to do what I did back there to save the hatchling in the tree, so I concentrated, and felt for the energy that I had recently used. When I found it, I concentrated, and was able to bring it out again, and form a beam of blue energy, but this time, I decided to experiment. I mentally focused on it, and where I wanted it to go, and managed to loop it around, and control it like a long chain. Terrador was quite fascinated at my abilities, and the fact that when I used my elemental power, I didn't open my mouth, which is what most dragons do when using a 'breath' attack. He then asked me if I had the time to come to the conservatory where he and the other guardians resided on certain days of the week, and demonstrate my element more. I told him that I technically had a lot of free time, but I needed to find a job, or I would starve. Terrador then gained a sympathetic look, and told me that if I would come to the conservatory on weekdays for three hours a day, he would send me sixty gems for each session. I t definitely paid more than my previous job, but admittedly wasn't as rewarding. However, I did discover some pretty cool things about my element." She then turned to Spyro. "Remember the blue room?"

Spyro's eyes widened a little in remembrance. "You mean you can generate that pretty much anywhere?" he asked.

Selene blushed a little, and looked down awkwardly. "Yes actually," she said, a little bit embarrassed as she did. She then looked over at the mouth of the cave. "It's only about six right now. I bet that we could make a good distance before the sun completely goes down ."

Spyro turned to face the cave mouth. "I'll bet that you're right," he replied. Selene stood up.

"Well then, let's go," she said. Together, she and Spyro walked out of the cave in the direction of the sunset. Eventually, they came into a small forest. By now though, the sun had gone down, leaving the sunless light of dusk. However, unlike previous ones, this forest shined with magic.

Spyro looked around. "Gee. It's really beautiful in here," he said as he gazed in awe at the luminous trees.

Selene on the other hand immediately felt a familiarity in the place that she couldn't quite describe. It was almost like she was here before, but not quite the same.

Just then, something dawned on Spyro. "Hey Selene. Didn't you say that your memory only goes back to when you were twelve?" he asked.

Selene broke out of her first thought, but then thought on what Spyro said. 'Wait a minute. If my memory goes back to when I was twelve, then…' "Spyro!" she called. The purple dragon looked a bit hurt.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean any harm. It's just… this place, I feel like I know it from somewhere," she said.

Spyro looked at her, this time with an expression of thought. "That could be possibl-"

"Spyro, look out!" yelled Selene. She put a paw out, and barely stopped Spyro from falling into a small spring.

"Thanks," said Spyro after he caught his breath.

Selene just stared at the pool. "Woah, check it out…," she whispered. Spyro stared at the pool. There was definitely something abnormal about it, almost celestial. The purple dragon saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see Selene walking towards the pool, almost in a trance. Lightly, she touched the pool with her claw tip. Spyro watched in amazement as the water where she touched began to shine a bright orange, which spread through the water until the entire pool was a radiant orange color. He turned to Selene, who was also staring wide eyed at the water.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"I… I don't know," she said, still staring at the pond. At once, Spyro was filled with a strange emotion that he couldn't quite describe. It was like peaceful happiness, but mixed with a melancholy sadness to create an indescribable feeling.

Selene was also feeling the same thing, but unlike Spyro, she had felt this before. It was exactly how she felt when taking care of the hatchlings, that motherly love for young, but the emotion wasn't tied down with something physical like children, so it floated mysteriously in the dragons' minds, trying to find a place to settle, but failed.

Spyro felt the feeling eventually fade into the background of his awareness, but it was still there nonetheless. Just then, a strange noise seemed to emanate from all around them. It sounded like whispers, but not malicious whispers. They were the kind of whispers similar to when friends shared a funny secret, or when one whispered a surprise.

"Do you hear that?" asked Selene. Spyro slowly nodded his head. After a moment, the light faded back into the silence of the forest, and the sensation was gone.

"What was that?" Selene asked quietly as the last bit of color faded from the pool.

"I… don't know," replied Spyro. Just then, they looked up to the sky. Strangely, there wasn't any less light now than there was earlier.

"That's odd, it should be dark by now," said Selene.

"We probably just spent less time here than we thought, but we're wasting time. We need to get moving," replied Spyro.

Selene nodded her head. They passed through the clearing towards what had now become instinctively west. After the forest, they came upon a beautiful valley that was bathed in the dusk with blue, but was quite small. Wordlessly, they passed through it, and approached the opposite mountain. Selene noticed that the sky was getting brighter as they progressed. As soon as they reached the top of the hill, Spyro stopped Selene cold.

"Look!" he said as he pointed. Selene gasped at the sight. There, in the middle of the brilliant sunset was a shining city that seemed to be absolutely made of pure gold. All around the city was water, as far as the eye could see, putting the city on a peninsula. Both Spyro and Selene knew it. This was the end of their long and arduous journey.

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><p><strong>As usual, review and share your thoughts if you want to, I love hearing them! :)<strong>

**This is my favorite chapter in the whole story by the way I consider the word choice to be exactly what I was going after.**

**Okay, I did it. Wondering about the sunset? They are technically going west, and since the sun sets in the west, and this was the first time that they actually traveled at sunset (I wonder why this time and not the others.) The song for this chapter (after a lot of deciding) is Helicopter by Oh Land. It's one of those mystical songs that really captures one's imagination.**


	8. Abandonment

Chapter 8: Abandonment

**I know, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late lalalalalalalalalalala I know I know I said I would have it that one day. Anyway, This chapter, you get to see just how good I am when I'm improvising on the spot for writing. Edit. Okay sorry guys, my computer was down all week, but in the time that it was, I meditated, and decided that I needed to re-write this chapter because I didn't like the direction that it's going in. (What you're seeing is the re-written version.)**

* * *

><p>Spyro gazed in awe at the golden city by the sea with Selene right next to her doing the same. "It… it's beautiful," he said.<p>

Selene felt kind of awkward with the thought of what she barely stopped herself from saying. Then she thought of something. "Race you," she said while giving Spyro a playful look. He arched an eyeridge back to her.

"You're on."

The two dragons raced towards the city, but as they neared it, Spyro stopped, which prompted Selene to stop as well.

"What?" she asked.

"Won't it look strange if newcomers just show up in a city with strange customs?" Spyro asked.

Selene sat. "You have a point. Maybe we should lay low, watch how the people here behave," she said.

Spyro thought on this, which made him think of something else. If the people here were unable to be assimilated into, then that would mean that he would have to leave, and likely, Selene as well. Still though, it was worth a try. "Alright, we'll enter the city, and people watch without talking to anyone. If we get into trouble, don't hesitate to use your power," he said.

"Mhm," replied Selene, who was watching a butterfly. The two walked in the direction of the city, and approached its main gate, which was open. There were people a few people near the gate, and Spyro was relieved to see that they were at least dragons, plus they didn't have any physical differences that he could notice.

"Listen for if they speak our language, and if so, mingle with the crowd," whispered Selene to Spyro, who nodded his head. The two dragons waited from the bushes, trying to listen for a single word of their language. It was hard to tell from a distance, so they got closer. As they did, they heard a voice that made them freeze.

"Hey you two!"

'Well, at least its central draconic,' thought Spyro as he and Selene were approached by a young earth dragoness about their age. "Have you seen a group of four earth dragons about my age around here? Sorry to stop you on your way."

'Dang, she talks fast,' thought Spyro. "Umm, we're not from around here actually. Sorry," he said to the green dragoness.

"Oh… well sorry to bother you," she replied. She then turned her head. "Say, what kind of elements are you guys? I've never seen a white dragon, much less a purple one," she said.

Spyro didn't know where to start. Selene on the other hand did some quick thinking.

"I'm electric, and he's fire. It's just colder where we live, so our scales are brighter to help us reflect more sunlight," she said.

"Hey, where are we exactly," asked Spyro, who was thankful for Selene's quick thinking.

"This is Sterling, golden city by the sea, and my name is Lyra." "I bet you've never seen a swimming beach before," she added with a smirk.

Spyro played along, and laughed heartily. "You're right. We were just dying for a vacation, and wanted to find something different for a change," he said.

"Are you two mates?" she asked, throwing Selene into an utter head spin. She could physically feel the blood rushing to her face, pinkening it. Lyra took notice, but pretended not to.

"No, we're just traveling together," said Spyro plainly.

"I see," replied the green dragoness a bit slyly, but not obviously so. "Well, maybe we'll run into each other again," she said as she ran back into the town.

"Well… they seem like nice people," said Selene without turning her head. Just then her face lit up. "Lyra, wait!" she called as she ran after the green dragoness, leaving Spyro behind.

He watched as Selene ran into the distance. 'Well… I guess this is goodbye,' he thought, a bit sadly. He knew it from the moment he found Selene on the beach unconscious. Spyro promised himself from that he would find Selene a place where she could start anew and prosper, then let her live without his swaying on her life, yet he found that it was quite hard to let her go, but this was his best opportunity to make a run for it. He made up his mind. Spyro turned around to the gate, and slowly walked out in a thoughtful state of mind.

* * *

><p>"Lyra," called Selene as she finally caught up to the green dragoness, who turned her head. Selene looked at her a bit awkwardly, trying to recall her question. Lyra couldn't help but giggle a little bit. Eventually, Selene remembered what she wanted to ask. "Ah right. Lyra, does this city have a daycare?" she asked hopefully.<p>

Lyra nodded her head cheerfully. "It does now," she replied. "Thanks to me and Amber," she then added proudly. Selene's face almost literally lit up in delight, partially at the serendipity of the situation. "Are you guys hiring right now?" she asked, unable to hide her hopefulness.

Lyra looked up. 'Poor girl,' she thought, and then the truth dawned on her. 'She's not here on vacation. This is permanent residence. Why else would she be looking for a job?' Lyra turned back to Selene. "We just started, so we don't really have many kids to take care of," she said, sorry that she was turning away someone who would need a job soon.

Selene immediately felt the disappointment well up inside of her, and Lyra took notice and pity, but then she had an idea.

"Aha! Selene, I think I have an idea of something that could work. I do the cooking, and Amber handles the kids, so maybe you could work in shifts with her. Come by the place tomorrow, and we'll see how you do" she said.

Selene took what she could with a grin, surprised that Lyra so easily read her mind, but it didn't matter now. "Okay, that sounds like a great idea," she said. She then remembered something important. "Wait, where am I going to sleep tonight?" she asked.

"Do you have any money?" asked Lyra. Selene pulled a gem out of her satchel, which Lyra stared at in wonder. "What are those?" she asked.

"Gems," replied Selene. "These are currency where I come from." The truth then dawned on her. "Oh… right. What do you use as currency here?" she asked.

Lyra held up a golden metallic object that was in a circle shape, and had several distinct patterns.

"Sorry. Those gems are pretty though, I bet they would actually sell quite well with the other girls here if you ever wanted to try that," she said.

"Possibly, but where should I go to sleep tonight?" asked Selene.

"Would you like to maybe stay at my place?" offered Lyra.

Selene was ingratiated. "I'd hate to be a bother," she said rather bashfully.

"Oh no, you wouldn't be a bother to me. Not at all," quickly replied Lyra. "

Thank you so much," said Selene in gratitude. Together, Lyra and Selene walked into the city.

* * *

><p>By now, the sun was beginning to go beyond the horizon, leaving the strange sourceless light of twilight. As Spyro walked, he noticed where he was going. As he turned the corner, he saw the spring that he had passed with Selene a few minutes ago.<p>

'Why would I come here?' he asked himself. Strangely, the place brought that same unexplainable joyful feeling upon him. He decided that since he was here, he would try something. He slowly brought his claw down to the water of the spring, but unlike when Selene did it, the water did not become golden-orange or glow brilliantly.

Just then, Spyro noticed something. It looked like a small rock, but on further inspection, there were some markings on it, and it was rooted to the ground. He approached the stone, and brushed aside the fern in front of it. On it was an inscription that looked like it was made with claws, but it just looked so… ancient. Spyro was able to make out some letters here and there though.

"Ho- t- -oy f-l-s upon -, -u- lit- s-len- -as c-e at last!" Beneath that line though, there was another line, and unlike the one above it, the letters were perfectly clear. "May you lead a good life, wherever you may land, and may you not fall victim to the same fantastic evil that befell your poor parents ~Nexus."

Spyro thought on what the words could have meant as he settled down here for the night. The lower line was easier to read because it was scraped more deep into the stone, and it gave him some perspective. 'The top must have been about a bringing into the world of some kind if he said "good life",' he thought. With images spinning around in his awareness, the dragon fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Lyra and Selene pushed through the door leading into Lyra's home. The interior design was quite flamboyant, and featured a lot of orange things and glass windows so that you could see outside in all kinds of places with a small yard in the back with several flower patches.<p>

"Well, this is my house. It only has three main rooms, so I guess you'll sleep in the living room," said Lyra.

"Okay," replied Selene.

"The couch is right there…," said Lyra, who just stared at Selene for a moment. Something was definitely familiar. Just then, she remembered. "Aha! Selene, do you know of the legend of the white dragon?" she asked. Selene turned her head to Lyra.

"Sorry, but no. Hey wait a minute, I'm white," she said, giving more attention to her new friend.

"Well the funny thing is, our city was saved from disaster by a white dragon… his statue actually resembles you pretty similarly. Funny how after saving us, he left the city so abruptly, and just disappeared after that with his mate."

Selene found the story quite intriguing. "What was his name?" she asked.

Lyra shook her head. "He would never say his name… from what I've been told. He lived about one thousand-three hundred years ago," she said.

"Oh…," replied Selene. For whatever reason, this was news to her. Just then, Selene yawned.

Lyra took notice. "Well, it's been interesting talking to you Selene, but I have to get to bed. Make yourself comfortable on the couch, and goodnight."

"Goodnight to you too," replied Selene. 'And goodnight Spyro, wherever you are,' she thought as she slipped into a dream filled sleep.

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><p>The next morning.<p>

Spyro was surrounded by a gray nothingness that seemed to form a distant wall, but frequently, lines of color such as purple and green would wave around him. Ultimately, dark purple mist blew in lines to one position into a blob that eventually took shape. Spyro recognized it immediately. "C-Cynder?" he called. The shape turned its head towards him. Spyro was able to perceive it to be in a state of sorrow and confusion. This was certainly a dream, yet why was he dreaming of Cynder? Wasn't he over this already? By now, she had fully taken shape and had color and texture, but this wasn't her twenty five year old form. This was fifteen.

Spyro noticed that he had also reverted to this form himself, and felt his previous negative emotions involving her suddenly melt away like he was truly in the past again. She lowered her head again. "Spyro… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't want things to be the way they are," she said in her younger voice. Spyro lowered his head, but now Cynder was truly crying, utterly bawling, but these weren't just tears of regret. They were equally composed of guilt and shame.

"What's wrong?" asked Spyro, who had a feeling that there was more than just regret here.

At first, Cynder said nothing, she only sniffled and cried out loud, but eventually looked up at him with puffy eyes. "Spyro… I… I…" She just couldn't bring herself to say the words. Spyro wasn't any closer to understanding her either.

"Cynder? What happened?" he asked, this time instinctively putting a comforting wing around her like old times. She looked at him with heavy eyes.

"I… I've… committed the ultimate crime," she said.

"What? What is that?" asked Spyro, who was a little fearful for Cynder as to what the punishment could be. Suddenly, something dawned on him. "No… you didn't… Cynder… did you kill your mate?" he asked a bit fearful for the answer.

Cynder's expression of misery went to one of shock, and then, strangely, a light hearted smile, but then back to her original somber expression. "No silly dragon, I didn't," she replied with a slight smirk. Spyro was simply taken aback into with her use of the pet name she gave him early on after they saved the world. "Fa-har worse," she said as she broke down into tears again.

"What could be worse than…" Spyro didn't let himself think it. Suddenly, there was an earsplitting explosion of sensory noise. Spyro saw flashes of images that played out in an almost subconscious state. He watched his life from the time the world was saved flash before his eyes, all of the memorable moments with Cynder, all the way until he found himself staring at the spring of water. It gleamed into its golden state again, Cynder walked out from the bushes. She spoke to him, but no sound came from her. Instead, dreamlike gibberish filled the air

**(random completely unrelated to the story funfact, the "gibberish" in my other story isn't gibberish. It is in reality a systematic language that I found on google translate. There are some pretty funny messages on there, so check it out some time. Now, back to the story.) **

Eventually, he heard the gibberish come together into one sound, and then a dominant earsplitting word came through the air in Cynder's voice.

"Abandoned."

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><p>Spyro woke up with a start. "Cynder!" he yelped. It was early in the morning now, and the wind was blowing. Spyro listened to the rushing noises of wind through the trees, and he could swear that he heard voices in whispers, but they weren't distinct. Eventually, he decided that he might as well get an early start, so he walked over to the pond to clear his head… which was just enough time for him to get pierced by a poisoned arrow.<p>

The dragon gasped in pain, then felt the sedative effect from the poison coming on. His legs gave out, and his body slowly went numb, but before he blacked out, he saw several shapes surrounding him, holding what appeared to be weapons. Spyro recognized who they were in a heartbeat. 'No… wonder the dark army managed to survive all the way out… here,' thought the helpless dragon as they descended upon him, attacking with their weak clubs. Spyro felt his eyes starting to close, but before they did, he saw a flash of light, and a shape darting about the attackers, killing them. He finally did black out, but before he did, he thought back to the dream with Cynder.

"Oh Cynder… what have you gotten yourself into?" Spyro blacked out.

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><p><strong>It should be fair to tell you that in this story, there are no coincidences. Everything has a definite reason for existing, and if you notice anything, it's probably a subtle message of disproval from my part. I was feeling pretty dark all week, but the story has reached its sunny side, so I'll keep it for later. Oh, if anyone wants to draw Selene, I would love to see what you can come up with, and will mention any drawings in later chapters. For anyone that would like to pursue it, she has a golden underbelly, white scales, golden-brownish horns, and no tail spade or back-spikes with horns like Spyro's and a very "flat" body shape (Not the usual "wide hips, tiny middle" stereotype) The song for this chapter is "The one that got away" by Katy Perry. Do not just listen to the song, watch the video, it is SAD, and exactly what happened with Spyro and Cynder. It made me break down into tears, but I feel it really fits this chapter. HOT SOUP AT LAST!1<strong>


	9. The Daycare Of Death

**Chapter 9: The Daycare of Death.**

**Since Spyro and Selene are 26, they're not really close to full size (like the guardians) but they are bigger than the end of DoTD. I wrote most of this chapter while under the effects of a certain medicine that my doctor prescribed for my sickness, and it is really messing with my head and creativity, but mostly amplifying my Tourrette's , so I will probably a lot more talkative in here, but you will see as you progress that I get more and more detached, but don't worry about me, I'm okay. Funny thing is most of the scenes from this story are just dramatized parts of my life and my closest friend's. This chapter is annoyingly drab to me, so I guess you could think of this one as my yellowish gray chapter (they all have colors to me.)**

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><p>All was very strange. All around Spyro was a fuzzy awareness on reality. Someone was taking care of him in his poisoned state, and he could tell that it was a female by the sound of their voice, but he couldn't discern who it was. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, he came to terms with reality, and identified the white head looking down on him. Spyro gazed up at Selene's urgent expression, and changed to relief.<p>

"Oh thank goodness, you're alive," she said as she wrapped one arm around Spyro's neck.

The purple dragon really didn't know what to say to Selene. Part of him was almost perturbed at her for finding him on his departure, yet a bigger part was thankful that she saved his life. "Umm… thanks Selene," he said. "I would probably be dead without you."

She smiled down at him as she helped him back onto his feet. "Hey, you saved my life back at the frozen beach… I kind of owed you one," she replied.

Spyro thought of something. "Hey Selene, how did you learn to fight like that? And moreover, how did you find me here?" he asked. Selene shrugged. "I don't know really. I just woke up really early in the morning, but there was something else. Something about this place… it feels comforting to be here, and I was drawn here. I normally hate fighting, but when I saw you in danger… I, um, uh," Selene cursed the blood rushing to her face. Spyro however thought on her reaction to seeing him in danger.

'She really does care about me doesn't she?' he thought to himself.

Just then, Selene's eyes widened in rememberance. She looked up to the sky. "Oh no, I'm late for Lyra!" she said out loud. Selene looked back to Spyro. "You aren't completely healed yet; if you relapse, then no one will be here for you."

"I'll go with you," said Spyro in determination to regain himself.

"Can you walk?" asked Selene. Spyro took a few steps towards the town. "How about fly?" He opened his wings and leapt into an easy hover. Selene seemed convinced. "Alright, follow me," she said as she leaped into the air, and took off.

Spyro followed her, but at this high speed he noticed a strange whooshing feeling in his head. The purple dragon felt a strange tiredness in all of his limbs and wings. He wouldn't be able to fly for long. They flew over the gate of the city, and towards the little area where the daycare was.

When they landed, Spyro was dizzy again, and Selene noticed him wobbling on his feet, so she acted as a crutch to carry him inside. They were immediately greeted by Lyra, who was setting things up for the children. Her eyes widened when she saw Selene's guest.

"Selene! Where were you?" She asked in a panic. Just then, she noticed who the dragon on Selene's shoulder was and recognized him from yesterday, but then she noticed how… puny he looked. Her shock must have garnered attention from Selene.

"It's okay! He was hit by a poisoned arrow, but I got most of it out of his system," she reassured Lyra. "I don't know if he will relapse or not, so he needs to stay with me. Is that okay?" asked the white dragoness.

Lyra sat bug eyed for a second. "Poisond arrow? Where did that happen? We need to alert the city guards, and-" Just then, the door opened, and a pretty amber dragoness walked in, causing Lyra to stop mid-sentence to greet her friend. "Hey Amber," she called. "Tell me more about it later, okay Selene?" Selene nodded her head.

Lyra walked across the room to the amber dragon. "Hi Lyra," replied the orange dragoness. She then spotted Selene and Spyro, the latter of which was resting on the floor of the building. "Who are they?" asked Amber to Lyra.

'Dang, she sounds a lot like Britney Spears,' thought Selene. 'Wait, Britney Spears? Who's Britney Spears? What was I just thinking about? Ah, forget it,' she concluded.

"This is Selene, she may be joining our daycare staff," replied Lyra.

"And this is Spyro," said Selene, who motioned to the purple dragon on the floor. Selene noticed that for a fleeting second, Amber stopped and stared at Spyro, who tipped his head up then down in greeting (waving would be inconvenient for a dragon.) This for whatever reason made Selene the slightest bit uncomfortable, but Amber eventually turned to her, and she tipped her head the same way Spyro had in greeting.

"Welcome to the crew Selene," said Amber in a friendly voice. Selene smiled warmly at her.

"Glad to be here."

Lyra motioned at the time gem on the wall, and Amber acknowledged its significance. "8:20, the kids should be here in about ten minutes," alerted Amber.

"I'll get food ready for little Tiersa," said Lyra as she went for the kitchen. Amber nodded and hastily made way for a playroom with Selene on her heels. The Amber dragoness pulled out a set of multicolored jars.

Selene recognized these as colored waxes. Since hatchlings could be careless, ink was something to be avoided, so back at her old daycare, mama Denta would bring out bowls of hardened wax that hatchlings could scrape their claws in and draw with. (imagine melting crayons, pouring them into bowls, and letting them cool, and that's what we have here) Selene also knew from experience that the little ones had sharp claws, so the wax would help dull them a little to prevent accidental injury. She then thought of something. "Hey Amber, do the kids here have a regular morning stretch routine?"

"You know, I've never thought of doing that," replied Amber.

"Well, I used to have one at my old daycare, and the kids loved it," said Selene.

"Wait, you used to work at a daycare?" asked Amber, who now had turned to face her. Selene nodded.

"I did when I was sixteen. That was the best time of my life," she said, a bit taken aback.

"I imagine so," replied Amber. "Sorry, but Tiersa is about to show up, and I have to be ready for her," she said to Selene as she walked back to the main entrance.

Selene followed her with interest and benevolence. There had once been a hatchling at her old daycare who was rather sickly and small. She had to show up early every day because her parents had a busy schedule, and always had to pick her up an hour later than the other kids, but that left her alone with Selene, and the two had developed a bond.

As Selene entered the antechamber of the daycare, she noticed that Spyro was slumped against the wall, hopefully asleep. 'I hope he'll be alright,' she thought to herself, but then giggled inside. 'He looks so cute when he's sleeping,' she added in her amused thoughts.

However, Selene's musings were shattered when there in the doorway stood a tiny, light blue hatchling. Her parents just left out the door before Selene could glimpse them, and Amber was facing them as they went, indicating that she had spoken with them before they left. As soon as the door came back into position, Amber turned to the little hatchling.

"Tiersa, this is Selene. She's going to be a new person that works here, so you should get to know her okay?" she rhetorically asked the hatchling, who nodded her head. Amber then looked back at Selene, who seemed to be day dreaming, but the eye contact snapped her out of it, and she turned to face Amber. "Can you keep her company until the other hatchlings get here?" asked the orange dragoness. Selene nodded her head in positive anticipation. "Good. I'm sure you two will become good friends." Amber started to walk away, but then remembered something. "You will at first find that Tiersa may seem a bit cold and distant, but when the others get here, look out," she said in a warning, but with a hint of amusement and expectance in her tone.

Amber continued back into the room she was previously in, but something caught Selene's eye. As she walked out, she glanced over to Spyro, but then seemed to notice that he was sleeping, and walked on. She didn't have long to think on it though. Just as Amber had said, Tiersa was rather quiet and distant, but she completely transformed into the center of attention when the other kids showed up, and Selene, giving in to her childlike instincts but still retaining her motherly guidance, leapt right into the fun with the hatchlings after everyone had breakfast. Spyro however was still asleep near the door, and no one payed him much mind, that is for Selene, who would always shoot a glance in his direction to see if he woke up yet. After Selene's brief stretching routine, everyone went to play with the toys in several bins around the daycare, and Selene would actively go between the clusters of children, and play with them for a while, then head to the next group when the situation called for it, but no matter where she went, the kids loved her, but every time she went to another group, she would look back to Spyro, and he would still be asleep. As the day went on, the kids went outside for a while and later had lunch, then afterwards came nap time, and all this time, a certain purple dragon had not even so much as stirred from his position.

After putting everyone into the little nests in the nap room, Selene quickly walked over to Spyro, now the slightest inkling of fear inside of her. She gently jostled him. "Spyro. Spyro, can you wake up?" all to no avail. Selene's alarm level began to steadily escalate, and she checked for a pulse. The white dragoness was very relieved when she felt one, but she had no idea of the life changing brain activity the purple dragon was going through.

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><p>Spyro groggily opened his eyes. His sight was rather blurry, and all around him, he saw strange visions that could only be his mind firing off messages that were interrupting his sight. He heard someone calling his name, and the calling seemed to get closer and more frantic each time. Eventually he opened his eyes again, which was odd since he thought that he already did. The purple dragon looked up into the desperate face of Selene who was by now begging for him to wake up. When she saw his lucid face, her begging abruptly stopped, and she sat down, and stared at him, hoping that he didn't hear her embarrassing pleading. Spyro, in turn, just stared back at her for an awkward moment or two before he broke the silence. "Umm, Selene? What happened?" he asked. In homage to last time, Selene expressed great relief.<p>

"I guess I wasn't able to completely drain the poison from your system," The white dragoness replied. "But what's important is that you're okay now," she added in relief.

Spyro stared at her in bewilderment. "I was poisoned?" he asked. Selene nodded her head.

"Yeah, remember last night when you got attacked by those monsters? One of them hit you with a poisoned arrow, and you went unconscious, and then I…" Selene stopped dead in her speech, her face turning the slightest shade of pink. Spyro just kept staring at her in confusion. "Do you remember anything?" she asked. Spyro looked up towards the ceiling, trying to recall anything at all from the night before. All that he could salvage was an orange light that didn't seem to fit anywhere in his memory.

"Sorry, I don't," Spyro replied.

Selene gained a saddened expression. 'All that courage… all for nothing… figures.' "Are you alright?" asked Spyro, who took notice of her sudden drop in mood.

"Oh, umm yeah. I'm just a little tired, that's all," she replied.

Spyro could understand that, especially if she was up so early in the morning. 'Yet why can't I remember?' he thought to himself. Just then, a pretty amber colored dragoness approached Spyro and Selene. Seeing her jogged Spyro's memory a little bit, and he remembered something involving her earlier in the morning, yet he couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something gravely important.

"So, you're Spyro, right?" asked the new dragoness. Spyro, startled out of his thoughts, nodded his head to the girl, who smiled sweetly back to him. "I'm Amber. Sorry that I couldn't properly introduce myself this morning. You seemed pretty tired, but you're okay now, right?" Spyro nodded his head.

'Tired indeed!' said Selene to herself as she rolled her eyes. Something was a bit off here though. Amber had been quite quick and to the point with her in the morning and throughout the day up to this point, yet why was she being so open and sweet now? 'Eh, probably because now that we're on break, we have time to let go a little.' Amber sat down, indicating that she meant to talk for a while.

"So, what are you guys right now?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Selene. Amber gained an amused look.

"From a relationship standpoint, what would you call yourselves?" she asked. Selene found herself in a cruel silence, but then Spyro answered for her.

"We're just friends," he said. Some kind of imprint from Spyro's memory inclined him to say this over something more endearing, and his memory gave him the smallest impression to not be too attached to Selene. He then thought on that. Why would he want to be detached from her? She was a companion and a friend to him throughout their journey and even in times of great need. 'So many vital things I'm missing from yesterday. What could have possibly happened in such a short time?' Spyro thought to himself. Just then, Amber broke his thoughts.

"Hey guys, at the end of the day, which is around four, Lyra and I usually meet up at a coffee shop near here and chat over our drinks. Why don't you guys join us today?" she proposed.

"I'd love to!" responded Selene with enthusiasm. She was pleasantly surprised by how nice Amber was when she wasn't dealing with the children. Amber gave Selene a smile that seemed bit too sweet, and then turned to Spyro.

"And what about you Spyro?" she asked. He nodded his head.

"Sure."

Amber gained her positively saccharine smile again. "Great, I can't wait to see you there," she said to Spyro. Amber then turned to Selene with a thankfully normal smile unlike last time. "You too Selene. Thanks for your help this morning," she added. Selene smiled back.

"I was glad to."

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><p>Selene watched as little Tiersa stared back at her, bug eyed in her mother's hold as she was being carried away. Lyra walked up behind Selene with a smug look on her face.<p>

"Quite a way you've got with children there," said the green dragoness to Selene, making the white dragoness gain an odd expression.

"As far as I know, I'm still living my childhood," she said as her mind trailed off back to an empty time gap where there was nothing, yet her mind still went there because this was where her childhood was supposed to be.

Lyra gave Selene a funny look. "You mean you still approach life from a child's point of view?" she asked.

"Kind of, but it's not quite like that," answered a particularly mystified Selene.

Lyra stared at her in with some thought. 'Oh little Selene, what kind of creature could you be?' thought the green dragoness. 'A child in an adult's body?' Just then, the extra truth dawned on her. 'The greatest daycare play machine to ever live.' Lyra felt a bit discouraged, but then thought of something. 'If I just copy what she does, then I'll be just as well off, won't I?' All was put to rest. "To be honest, you're a little weird Selene," said Lyra.

Selene felt a little bit embarrassed.

"But honestly, I like it. It adds a new color to my particular group of friends," Lyra quickly added.

Selene's embarrassment was put to rest. "I'm glad you think of me as a friend," she said.

Lyra handed Selene five coins, which somewhat startled the white dragoness.

"Just exactly how much is this?" Selene asked.

"Seventy five; each coin counts for fifteen," responded Lyra.

This number system was a bit baffling to Selene. Back in Warfang, it was so simple. Green gems were the lowest valued, all the way up to diamond gems which were the most, and she had a feel for the approximate price of things back there, but this foreign number system was so complicated and difficult to comprehend.

"Anyway, I'm heading with Amber to the coffee house. If you'd like, you can walk with me," said Lyra.

"I'd love to," replied Selene. "Let me first just go get Spyro." The white dragoness went back inside of the daycare, but when she reached Spyro's previous location, she stopped dead in her tracks. The purple dragon was gone.

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><p><strong>Uh oh! What could have happened to Spyro? Well, I have a few options, but I've already decided, so you'll see soon enough. (No, he didn't die, I just felt like naming this chapter "The Daycare of Death." ;) Next chapter will be quite unusual, but oh so important, now won't it? Wait, you wouldn't know XD. Anyways, I expect all of you guys to get more from this text than what's written here, as I put in several allusions and intentions behind my writing, so see if you can find some. Now for something different for a change, I want you guys to name a song in your review of this chapter that might fit. I'll listen to every single one suggested, and say which one I liked the most next chapter. I'm generally open to any genre, but a bit skeptical towards hip-hop, although I'll still gladly listen to any if it is suggested.<strong>


	10. Scream

**Chapter 11: Scream**

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><p>Vision hazy, Spyro continued his practically aimless walk through the woods near the building he was just in. He didn't know why he was walking this way, or where he was going, but he knew one thing for sure: he was searching for something, and desperately needed to find it.<p>

If Spyro had been in his rational mind, he would have remembered that he had been poisoned not too long ago, and that this must be a manifestation of such an event, but alas, the poison was crippling to his sense of judgment, and so he was being forced to pointlessly walk, a slave to his own imagination. Eventually, Spyro came across the pond that he had visited the day before.

Spyro coincidentally found the haze over his mind lifted at that exact moment. 'What am I doing here?' thought the purple dragon to himself. Spyro began to fly up. When he saw the daycare, he headed in its direction.

At the daycare, Selene was searching by herself all around the facility for any sign of Spyro. For whatever reason, Lyra had left without any warning, and this was the slightest bit upsetting to the white dragoness. She had just begun to take flight when she noticed a purple shape approaching from the forest. She watched as it got closer, and recognized it as Spyro. Right before he was within twenty feet, Selene She rushed over to meet him.

"Where were you?" asked the white dragoness.

"I think I was sleepwalking under the effects of the poison... but I feel better now," the purple dragon replied.

Just then, Lyra stepped out of the building behind Spyro and Selene. "We're going to our café now. Are you guys coming?" she asked. Spyro nodded his head, while Selene sat, bewildered.

"Lyra, where were you? I checked the whole building, and no one was in there," she said. Lyra looked confused as well.

"I was in the main room putting the last of the toys away… you must have missed me," the green dragoness replied. Selene nodded her head in acceptance, and the trio started their walk to the café, but something else caught Selene's attention.

Something she was missing the whole time up until now. 'Strange how everything we ever want or need here seems to be somehow handed to us by fate, like Lyra running a daycare with open employment, and being so kind to complete strangers.' Selene found it even strange how she was just now considering this fact, and had been blind to it up until now.

'Something about this "city" is definitely off,' the white dragoness thought to herself. Was she being paranoid? Was all of this somehow all a matter of serendipity? Selene tried to believe that it was, but she knew, somehow in the back of her mind that another force was at play here. Something unseen…

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><p>When Spyro, Selene, and Lyra arrived at the café, the sun was just beginning to go down, and Selene took the place in. It was a small house that was right next to a pretty lake that was tinted a brilliant orange in the sunset. That orange color reminded Selene of something that she had forgotten.<p>

"Hey Lyra, where did Amber go?" she asked. Lyra turned.

"I think she left before us. Probably because we were taking too long," she replied.

'But why didn't she give any warning?' Selene asked herself. The white dragoness's thoughts were interrupted when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

A radiant orange dragoness was approaching the group from the walking alley. Something about Amber honestly made Selene feel a bit uneasy, and she tensed as the crimson dragoness approached.

"Hey everyone!" the Amber called out; "Sorry I'm late!"

"Amber!" Lyra called back as Amber came within conversation length.

"Where were you?" asked Lyra.

"I had to take care of a few things at the daycare that were overlooked for some reason," said Amber as she gave a surreptitious glance towards Selene. The white dragoness looked down, feeling a bit hurt at this remark, but she didn't say anything.

"But everything's been taken care of now," Amber reassured everyone. "Let's all have a drink, shall we?" she asked invitingly. Spyro, Lyra, and Selene followed the amber colored dragoness inside the cafe. Once inside, everyone ordered their drinks, and sat down.

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><p>"So what are your interests, Spyro?" asked Amber at the cafe table. Spyro shrugged. "Just overcoming myself and living life I guess," the purple dragon responded as he quietly ate his meal with low energy.<p>

"That's really deep," volleyed Amber back to him.

'No... it really isn't,' Spyro thought to himself.

"I would expect so much from a dragon as_ magnanimous_ as you," she added with a coo. Spyro turned back to his plate in disgust, while Amber turned back to the group.

"Well, we'll have to buy groceries for the daycare soon because **somebody** left out the ground steaks," chattered the crimson dragoness, with an emphasis towards Selene, who shrank down even more in her seat, not wanting to even open her mouth.

Amber was being incredibly hurtful, and worst of all, it was all through something that couldn't be helped: the pointing out of Selene's own incompetence. Lyra took note of Selene's situation, and extended a comforting wing over her

"Don't worry, I put in the order to the butcher, and he will have them ready by the morning when we return to work," she consoled. The green dragoness leaned a bit closer to Selene. "And sorry for how Amber is acting. She gets incredibly competitive in the presence of an attractive male," she added with a snicker.

Selene smiled at Lyra, feeling better... but for whatever reason, her wing touch was like ice. Amber turned to Spyro again.

"So I'm sure we're all dying to know Spyro," started the crimson dragoness. "What qualities do you enjoy most in a dragoness?"

Spyro looked up at her cynically. "I like it when they don't obsess over me just to try to get my attention and do a blatantly bad job at hiding it."

Everyone at the table but Amber burst into uproarious laughter. Amber simply stared with a smirk.

"Good to know... good... to... know."

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><p><strong>Review if you want to, as always, I love your feedback!<strong>

**Edit: Early April: Chapter seem kind of short? I cleaned out all of the "weird" parts that put this at just over 4000 words. They were honestly completely irrelevant.**

**Anyways, the song for this chapter is Isobel by Bjork. It relates in many ways to all of the events in this chapter. I will see you guys in a while! Best wishes of course!**


	11. The Snare (Part 2)

**Chapter 12: The Snare (Part 2)**

**I think I've really gotten myself together with this next chapter. No more blind fumbling through the plot. I plan to pick up the pace with the story now, so prepare to encounter turbulence. I've been working on my word choice to try to sound more refined and "crystalline," so I would love some feedback on what you guys think of my word choice and placement. You may notice that this is "Part 2" instead of "Part 1." There's a reason for that ;)**

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><p>Spyro was the first to wake up of the three dragons in the house where he was. He felt like he was trying to remember something, but couldn't. He did feel like it was a happy memory though, something to cherish.<p>

The white dragoness on the other side of the room began to stir. Selene slowly opened her eyes.

"Morning," she murmured softly as she eyed Spyro's awake form. As if on cue, Lyra also awoke from her nightly sleep.

"Good morning everyone!" she cheerfully said. Lyra turned to Selene. "The daycare is closed today, so I thought I could show you guys around the city," explained the green dragoness. Selene turned to Spyro.

"How about it?"

The situation reminded Spyro of his original intention to establish a place for Selene in the city, and then depart, but something in the back of his mind urged him to stay. "I might as well," replied the purple. Lyra grinned at her two friends

"Great! When we're ready, I'll take everyone down to the café for breakfast. We can meet Amber there."

Selene recoiled at the mention of the name while Spyro just rolled his eyes at the thought of that orange dragoness. She tries too hard, and it was unfortunately for her, blatantly obvious.

When the trio arrived at the café, they were greeted by a waiter who showed them to a table, and provided them with menus.

"Wait, there wasn't a waiter last time," mentioned Selene as she browsed through the food options on the page.

"Oh, this café works that way. They are set up like a formal restaurant for breakfast, but they switch to a walk-in for lunch and dinner," explained Lyra.

Selene couldn't help but consider this a bit odd and quite redundant. The white dragoness was startled out of her thoughts when Amber came in through the door, spotted Spyro, Lyra and Selene and walked over to sit with them.

"Hi Lyra," said the amber dragoness as she sat in her place at the table. "And a special hello to you, Spyro," she muttered quietly to the humored purple dragon.

Selene got that same upset feeling that she experienced the day before when Amber was acting the same way towards Spyro. The purple dragon himself just rolled his eyes. At that moment, the waiter came to take everyone's orders. Once everyone had ordered what they wanted, conversation resumed.

"So what is like where you guys come from?" asked Lyra to Spyro and Selene. Spyro passively looked away in disgust.

"We come from the great dragon city of Warfang," replied Selene. "It's really urban." At her remark, Selene noticed that the café was almost empty. She and everyone at her table were the only customers in the establishment at the moment. "Is it always this empty here?" asked the white dragoness. Lyra took note of the café's small population. She leaned in a bit close.

"You will often find that in our city, people are right where they need to be at the time when they need to be there," replied the green dragoness a bit darkly. No one else but Selene seemed to be the slightest bit bothered by this maneuver. Suddenly, the waiter came back with the party's food, and placed it at the table.

"That was fast," remarked Selene. Lyra nodded.

"Yes, but we're the only ones here."

'Still though…,' Selene murmured to herself. Everyone conversed between bites as they ate.

"So Spyro," Amber started with a gleaming smile. "What is Warfang like? Other than the fact that it's urban," she asked. Spyro's expression darkened at the memory.

"Unforgiving" was the only word that the purple dragon uttered in response. Amber sensed that she had struck a harsh memory in Spyro.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry," she replied sympathetically. "But I do hope that you find this city a wonderful new start," she added optimistically. Spyro's expression perked up a little bit in response.

"Thanks," he replied, a bit surprised with Amber's sympathy. The purple dragon hoped that it wasn't just a flirtatious trick. Amber then gained a glint in her eye.

"Hey, I know! How about I personally show you around the city a bit?" she suggested. Spyro shrugged.

"Sounds fine to me," he replied. Spyro then remembered his traveling companion. "Will Selene be coming with us?" he asked. She turned and looked over at Lyra.

"Actually, I was wondering if Selene and I could maybe go on our own too," Lyra replied. "As long as that's okay with you Selene."

The white dragoness was torn, but found herself instinctively speaking for herself. "I'll go with you." The earth dragoness beamed.

"Wonderful! We'll split up as soon as we're done here. I'm going to take Selene to the square and then Silver Salon. We'll meet back up at this café later to regroup, okay?" asked Lyra to Amber. Amber nodded.

"Then it's settled."

* * *

><p>Selene watched Spyro walk away with Amber, and waved awkwardly. The poor white felt incredibly uncomfortable enough with Spyro leaving her, even for a little while, but with someone like Amber? Selene felt like she had lost Spyro forever despite the fact that it would just be a few hours without him.<p>

'Come on you, she's just showing him around, when we meet back up here, everything will be alright,' Selene thought to herself reassuringly.

"So I was thinking that we could first go to the square, and then afterwards, maybe to the Silver Salon." Lyra's voice pierced Selene out of her musings, and she turned to face Lyra.

"Works for me," she replied. Lyra nodded and the two started walking down a street. When they had gone a little ways, Selene glanced up and noticed the statue that she had seen the day before. Lyra noticed Selene's gaze, and stopped.

"Interested in that statue?" Lyra inquired.

"Yeah," replied Selene as she stood, transfixed by it. There was something about the statue that made Selene feel a strange and almost sentimental feeling. At the same time, Selene noticed something about its eyes and its expression. It almost looked scared and anxious, which seemed odd, considering that it was supposed to be a heroic figure.

"It's pretty isn't it?" asked Lyra. Selene nodded.

"Yeah… it's almost feels familiar to me somehow," the white she-dragon remarked as she continued to gaze at the statue, almost trying to look for an answer to questions that she didn't have.

"Well, when you're done, I have more things to show you," said Lyra. Selene's face flushed.

"Right… let's keep going." The two continued on their path through the streets.

* * *

><p>Spyro stared up at the pub in front of him with a sick feeling in his chest. For whatever reason, the place brought back painful memories of that one horrible night that the poor purple dragon had been trying to forget.<p>

"And this is where I used to work before I met Lyra," said Amber to Spyro. "I was thinking that we could maybe relax here before going to the marina. Do you want to?" the crimson dragoness asked.

Spyro really didn't want to, but the place seemed meaningful to Amber, and it wouldn't hurt to maybe stop and sit for a spell.

"Okay," he replied flatly as the two entered.

Spyro noticed that like the café before, the bar was empty of patrons except for himself and Amber. There had been people on the streets, but there was almost no conversation, as if everyone had somewhere to be and no time to chat. The pair sat down, and as if on cue, an earth dragon bartender appeared from the doorway behind the counter.

"May I help you?" he asked warmly.

"I'll have a Bloody Sunday," requested Amber.

"A shot of brandy for me," Spyro added plainly. He wondered if Amber would be okay paying for his drink as well since he didn't have any money that was of value in the city.

As the bartender prepared the drinks, Spyro decided to humor himself; poke fun at his own past and the whole situation.

'And here is where she is psychically adding the love potion to my drink,' he thought as he watched Amber, who seemed to be staring at his drink. The bartender finished with Spyro's simple brandy order and moved on to mixing Amber's more complicated Bloody Sunday.

'And now she is fantasizing about all the things she plans to do to me.' Spyro stared over at Amber who seemed to be concentrating on the bartender's actions as she waited for the drinks.

Spyro halfheartedly snickered inside at the whole imaginary scenario that was playing through his mind, and at the grotesque parody that it was of his admittedly tragic life. The bartender finished the drinks, and brought them over to Amber and Spyro, who each took theirs. Amber started to sip hers slowly.

Spyro looked down at his drink, and smiled. 'And now I drink the lobiscon loxi and become her pawn,' the purple dragon mused in his head, bringing his fake scenario to resolution. He picked up the brandy, and drank halfheartedly waiting to feel the effects of the love potion which he knew would never come… but come they did.

The dragon felt his senses dull for a minute as he simply stared at Amber longingly for a minute while she smiled a devilish grin… and then lucid realization came in a wave, and the purple dragon realized with a start what was going on.

"**Harlot!" **Spyro shrieked as he pounced at Amber, truly deep and feral rage coursing through every part of him.. The crimson dragoness was completely taken off guard as she was bawled over by Spyro, a livid expression of pure hate on his face. Amber stared up in pure horror at the purple dragon above her as he slapped his claw across her face.

Black blood oozed out of the wounds on Amber's face, causing Spyro to react with surprise, his love potion induced trance long shattered. Amber got up and glared back at him, eyes burning with rage like two black coals.

"You pathetic wyrm!" she shrieked in a distorted and echoed voice. "You were supposed to give yourself to me! Body, mind, but most importantly, soul! Do you know how valuable you would have been to us?" Something strange was happening to Amber.

Her pupils were dilating, getting slowly bigger until they completely covered both of her eyes.

"But now it seems that you've seen too much," the thing that called itself Amber said in a demonic voice. It turned to the barkeep as its body turned completely black and its eyes completely red.

"Get him."

Adrenaline spiked through Spyro as he made a mad dash out of the pub, creating wall of earth behind him in the doorway to impede whatever would be chasing him. The purple dragon took flight and sped back through the streets, retracing his steps. He desperately had to find Selene…

* * *

><p>As Lyra and Selene passed through the square, Selene noticed a strange aura about the place. There was very little conversation, yet the air was somehow thick, as if it were holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.<p>

"And this is the main market area where various salespeople go about their business," remarked Lyra as she pointed out the various stalls. Selene felt like everyone in the square was watching her, but when she turned to face them, they seemed to just be going about their normal business.

"If you see anything that you want, let me know," said Lyra in a friendly way.

"Oh I… I really couldn't," replied Selene, slightly embarrassed by her feeling of dependency.

"Well, if you don't find anything here that you like, then let's just keep going," said Lyra, a bit disappointed that her friend didn't want to get anything from the square. The two continued on their path past a few more sites, and eventually, Lyra stopped in front of a building labeled "Silver Salon," prompting Selene to stop as well.

"Why are we stopping?" asked Selene.

"I booked an appointment here for us yesterday," answered Lyra with a grin. "I thought you might enjoy it as part of your day off."

A large smile broke over Selene's face. It felt so wonderful to finally have someone actually acting genuinely nice to her, and plus, she had never been to a beauty salon before. The two entered the building, and were greeted by the receptionist. Lyra gave her name, and then walked with Selene to the back where they met the stylist who showed Selene and Lyra to their respective seats.

"Hey Selene," called Lyra, getting Selene's attention. The green dragoness held a necklace out to Selene with a black jewel in its center.

"I got this for you back in the square. I thought that it would go great with your scale color," she said with a sweet smile. Selene beamed back, a little unsure of what to say.

"Wow, um, thank you! It's… it's beautiful," the white she-dragon stuttered as she slipped the necklace on.

At once, dark energy poured out of the crystal and shocked Selene, causing her to scream in pain. She desperately tried to remove the artifact, but it was stuck in place. Lyra simply stood unmoved, and watched Selene with a smirk. Suddenly, the pain stopped, and Selene collapsed on the ground, shaking.

The white dragoness could feel that something was terribly wrong, and she looked inquisitively up at Lyra, who gained a shadow of remorse.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, but we first needed to soften you up, dear. We couldn't have those powers of yours getting in the way." Lyra then turned to the "stylist."

"Shackle her." Selene, too weak to put up a fight, unwillingly allowed her adversaries to do with her as they saw fit.

* * *

><p>Spyro was flying through the square through the unsettling silence, when a piercing scream, faint, but detectable cut through the air. The purple dragon's eyes widened in recognition of the cry, and he flew towards its source.<p>

* * *

><p>Selene could only watch in horror as she was raised into the air, sprawled on top of a platform and tied down, the whole front of her body exposed. Selene watched as a massive black crystal was being lined up with her chest.<p>

"Now don't worry, this won't hurt," comforted Lyra. "At least not physically."

A sudden explosion at the front of the salon caught the attention of Lyra and the stylist, who turned to face the source. There at the door stood a purple dragon, his face glaring, and ready for action.

His expression changed to one of horror when he caught sight of Selene tied down. Lyra stared at him in anger.

"Wasn't Amber supposed to take care of you?" she asked, annoyed. Spyro laughed humorlessly.

"Trust me. She tries way too hard. She never had a chance in the first place."

"Who said anything about my chance being over?" asked a disembodied and distorted voice. A black shadow of a dragon materialized beside Selene, and then took on the color of Amber as she held a claw to Selene's throat.

Spyro stared in horror as he realized the situation he was now in.

"Enough games," said Amber in an annoyed voice herself. "Now, you will do exactly as I say, or your precious concubine goes to hell." Selene recoiled on the inside at the insult that Amber had thrown at her. Spyro simply said nothing.

The very next instant, Spyro had vanished from where he was standing. Amber smirked and brought her claw backwards to cut into Selene's throat, but all that she found was air. Spyro and Selene were gone.

* * *

><p>Spyro, with Selene in his paws, flew as fast and as far as he could while he could still hold his time fury in place. He had just crossed over the city wall and was in the outskirts when he finally felt it break, and time caught up with him. The purple dragon kept flying, this time lower to try to be more difficult to see in case there were pursuers… but none came.<p>

Eventually, Spyro's wings gave out, and he stopped in a forest clearing to rest, putting Selene down. The purple dragon then realized that she never said anything during the entire flight away from whatever that city was. Spyro turned towards Selene.

"Are you okay?" he asked. No response.

Spyro turned her over so she could face him. Her face was limp, but her eyes were in an expression of horror. It was then that Spyro noticed the necklace around her neck and the dark crystal in the center, radiating with an evil aura.

With a quick swipe of his claws, the purple dragon sliced the weak gold chain and it fell off of Selene. Immediately, she gasped for breath. When she had finally pulled herself together, she stood up.

"Yes… now I am," she said in answer to Spyro's question.

Selene and Spyro shared a long gaze, and then Selene reached over and hugged him with one of her wings. Spyro was initially startled by the gesture, but he found himself returning it with his own wing embrace, comforting the white dragoness.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her. Selene looked up to Spyro, eyes brimming with adoration.

"You saved me. You don't need to be sorry," she returned. Rain clouds started building up in the sky, and the two dragons broke their embrace.

"So where do we go now?" Selene asked. "And what was that city?"

"I… I don't know," replied Spyro. "But we have to get away from here, that's for sure."

As the two dragons padded away from what was nearly both of their demises, Spyro found himself with that same feeling again that had been bothering him. The purple dragon tried to focus on it, but it still lacked clarity. Spyro's thoughts then went back to the city, as he was still shaken by the memory. Spyro nearly shed a tear when he thought of the memories of the hilariously unfortunate tragedy that was his life. How would he move on?

* * *

><p><strong>Rate and Review please. Song for this chapter is Half Light II (No Celebration) by Arcade Fire. I don't know why... but after writing this, I felt an incredibly strong feeling of sadness and fear... I would REALLY appreciate some constructive criticism on the aesthetic quality of my story, how "realistic" it seems, especially in the characters' reactions to certain stimuli. I also have a poll on my profile about what I should do next after I finish this story. Please vote on that if you can. Thanks!<strong>


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